This just landed in our inboxes, and looks pretty damn fun. You got something better to do at 4:30pm today? I didn’t think so.

Just wanted to give you a quick heads-up. In just a few hours, there’s a group of Oregon Democrats and folks from Veterans in Action that are gathering to “welcome” Senator Gordon Smith and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) when they arrive at a fancy-pants $1000 fundraiser. Here’s the best part. The fundraiser is on a boat in the Willamette — and we’ve figured out what time they’re departing. It’d be fabulous if you could join the crew. Here’s the story: At 4:30 p.m., folks are gathering at the corner of SE Water and SE Caruthers. Here’s a map. From there, the group will walk one block to the boat dock. Questions? Call Adrian Rosolie at 503-522-1830.

Should be fun.

p.s. Bring friends!

Yep, a “flashmob” protest at the Portland Spirit docks. (Hopefully Smith and his Republican, pro-war buddies don’t read Blogtown, so we aren’t spoiling the surprise.) Ahoy!

Our web-exclusive review of Je T’Aime Paris is now available. Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir, oui oui c’est vrai, Jerry Lewis est un genius, etc.

Our web-exclusive review of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is now available. Enjoy, nerds!

Matt Davis: “What is a 420? I should probably know that.”

Amy Ruiz: “It’s shorthand for marijuana use.”

Matt Davis: “…”

I always sort of pitied the dismal wine bar Renaissance, formerly at NE 28th and Flanders—such a sad, empty little place. I also sort of hated it because it was a total waste of killer bar real estate. Well, unsurprisingly, Renaissance has closed, and in its place is the brand new Red Flag. And finally, finally this space is living up to its potential.

Red Flag owner Danny is also a co-owner of the Know, and Red Flag definitely has a sort of indie aesthetic. The interior has been totally remodeled: There’s a beautiful wood bar, murals on the side of the building and the wall, mirrors that make everything seem bigger and brighter, and adorable animal art work on the walls. There’s outside seating, it’s non-smoking, and there’s a small but cheap food menu—I got a spicy bowl of rice & beans for $3 that was so big I couldn’t finish it, and there are also sandwiches for $5.50, plus a bunch of items under $5: a “creamy weiner” (hot dog w/cream cheese &pickles), a chili dog, a pasta bowl. Right now there’s just PBR and Stella on draft, with Lagunitas IPA on the way, plus a bunch of bottled beers. Full bar, natch.

I really, really like this place. There aren’t enough good non-smoking bars in the area. Oh, and the jukebox is kickass. Danny promised that when he’s done it’ll be the “best jukebox in town.” And did I mention that happy hour is daily, 4-7, and wells are only $2.75 ($3.50 regularly)? Or that they’re getting the new Spiderman pinball game soon? So, stop by. If you see me sitting at the bar reading Harry Potter, feel free to say hello

Yesterday, I got a tour of the under-construction project known as Milepost 5, the defunct Baptist Manor retirement home that is being turned into something of an artist incubator out on 82nd and Glisan. (Yeah, 82nd—I’ll get back to that shortly.)

So here you go, celebrated creative class of Portland, this is one of the first looks at a project designed to appeal just to you.

The complex is made up of two buildings. One of them has been gutted and is being converted into small-ish condo units, the other, larger building will be used for a gallery, a restaurant, performance space, and apartment rentals—all for artists.

Here’s some basics, plus photos and my take on it after the jump:

It’s a private partnership, but it’s been facilitated by Sam Adams’ office through staffer Jesse Beason. The condo building is set to open first, with sales starting in mid-July and opening in December. The first floor is all small, 500 square foot units that will go for around $99,500. The second and third floor units are larger, 700 square feet and above, and will go for $150,000 or more. The fourth floor, which is being added to the building, will be larger units in the $225,000 to $250,000 range.

The renovation on the other building, which is quirky as hell, will be dependent on how well the condos sell, and how much demand there is for the space.

This is the exterior of the condo building, facing a nice parking lot/courtyard off of 81st.

The obviously unfinished interior of the condo building from the third floor.

Here's the rub. The complex is directly on 82nd, which could be a barrier for potential buyers.

It's not any further from the city core than, say, North Portland, but it feels further, and 82nd has, shall we say, a unique personality that's traditionally been more suited to strip malls, car dealerships, and fast food joints than artist condos. But, the neighborhood is changing, and the surrounding Montavilla area is blowing up. Still, this entire project is a bold experiment, and any experiment means taking risks. Here, the risk is whether the location will doom it, and that won't be known for months or years. (And, no, there's no city money tied up in the project, Bojack, so put the brakes on the boondoggle talk.)

One of the many, many hallways in the interior of the apartment building. Designing this will be tricky, since most of the existing rooms are literally just rooms, and not all of them even have bathrooms. The question is how many interior walls will be ripped out to make way for larger apartments, how much they'll rent for, and who, exactly, will rent them.

Also, it still smells like old people.

Like I said, quirky as hell. This cross was taken down from the first floor chapel, which will be converted into a performance space.

Built in the '40s, last redesigned in the '60s. According to Beason, the chapel will probably stay relatively untouched. I want to see a show there immediately.

Toilets, stacked in a large closet.

The kitchen and dining room are massive. It could be used by a restaurant, but there's also talk of sharing the kitchen as a commissary space for food cart businesses.

The courtyard in the center of the apartment building. That's Beason on the right, and Urban Honking blogger Mike Merrill on the left.

And thus ends your tour. What do you think, artists? Would you live a spot like this?

“JT.” heh

The JT Leroy saga—Just when you thought that dead horse was flogged into the muddy racetrack, a new development comes along to reopen the story. As you’ll recall, JT Leroy was a “subversive” writer (actually, a very traditional [but good] writer who wrote about taboo and graphic subjects—mostly autobiographical tales about being a teenage gutterpunk prostitute) who was recently revealed to be a middle-aged Mom from Brooklyn who made the whole “JT Leroy” persona up, and who was certainly not a fey, publicity-shy, suicidal AIDS victim with a preternatural gift for prose.

Now, Laura Albert—the woman who created the Leroy character and wrote all the books—is being sued by a film production company who says they signed a contract with JT Leroy, not Laura Albert, and since Leroy doesn’t exist, neither does their agreement. You can read all about it in this great New York Times article, which can be slippery to keep track of at times, what with all the imaginary people and lies and everything.

The trial, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, promises to be an Escher-like convergence of the movies, literature and journalism with references to sex in truck stops thrown in and a documentary filmmaker, considering a project on the case, sitting quietly in back.

Ms. Albert’s lawyer, Eric Weinstein, began his own remarks with the memorably understated line, “Laura is a complicated person.” He said she was physically and sexually abused as a child. He said she was institutionalized in psychiatric wards and in a group home as a ward of the state. He said she was in therapy for 13 years with a psychiatrist whom she spoke to by telephone while posing as a teenage boy named Jeremy, an embryonic version of JT Leroy.

By the time the psychiatrist advised her to write, the persona of the teenage boy had become engrained as Ms. Albert’s alter ego, what Mr. Weinstein called her “bridge to the world.” Ms. Albert herself, in conversations before the trial, called JT “her respirator,” an unreal, though entirely necessary, entity that allowed her to breathe.

In honor of John Doe performing at Dante’s tonight, here is a clip of Doe and X blazing through a very raw performance of “Los Angeles.”

My lord, that band was amazing.

… and as such, every father deserves a present. Except for the father of this kid. Who is either the meanest or funniest dad in the world. You be the judge!

Yesterday we reported that concerns are being raised about the location of two upcoming appeals in front of the Independent Police Review’s (IPR’s) Citizen Review Committee (CRC).

The appeals, scheduled for next Tuesday, will be held at the Multnomah County Courthouse, on SW 4th, which has metal detectors and is staffed by sheriff’s deputies. Copwatch activist Dan Handelman says he’s concerned that such as setting is likely to intimidate the appellants in the appeals, and that he’d prefer for the appeals to be held either at City Hall or out in the community, as they often are.

CRC chair Hank Miggins just called up to respond to Handelman’s concerns. Miggins said he’s trying to have meetings out of city hall which he sees as “a symbol of the police bureau.”

I asked him whether he thought the Multnomah County Courthouse mightn’t appear just as tied up with the police bureau in the mind of the appellants, and he couldn’t respond to that.

He said “if Dan is concerned about this I don’t know why he hasn’t spoken to me,” and added that “I’m trying to hold these meetings away from city hall but we don’t have any money, and even the community centers are starting to ask for money to hold these meetings.”

The courthouse is free. I’ve given Handelman Miggins’ number so they can talk it over—let’s hope the issue can be resolved.

UPDATE: Handelman says he did speak to Miggins, at the last CRC meeting, in his public comments. Handelman says he’s also spoken with Miggins this afternoon, who “didn’t see what the intimidating factor was” about holding it in the courthouse.

I heard about Pepsi Ice Cucumber a few weeks ago, and I have been scouring Portland’s stores for it ever since—like a madman, a thirsty madman, a madman who is PARCHED and whose life-threatening, all-encompassing thirst can only be sated by the delectable nectar of cucumber soda pop. I MUST HAVE IT. Just as I delighted in Crystal Pepsi, and just as I delight in whatever batshit crazy MangoGrapeTaffyHyperColorMadeUp Flavor that 7-Eleven cranks out in their fantastical Slurpee machines, I was sure I would delight in drinking something as fucking crazy and gross as a cucumber-flavored soda pop.

But. ALAS. After dragging several friends to several supermarkets and convenience stores—none with a single drop of this magical elixir for sale!—I decided to look it up on the internet. And it turns out it’s only in Japan, for reasons unexplained, though I can only imagine that some jackass with a stupid goddamn name and a fat face at Pepsico* hates me and is trying to cause me great pain by first inventing such an amazing beverage, then making sure I heard about it, and then—finally, cruelly, maliciously—keeping it from ever reaching my eager taste buds. GODDAMMIT.

So two things. First: Screw you, Japan. You are a useless nation. Second: Does anybody know how I can get a hold of even one bottle of Pepsi Ice Cucumber? I have what I think is a pretty sensible policy of not buying edible items off of eBay, but if that’s what I have to do, I will do it. I WILL.

*Alberto Ibargüen.

That was the message that was texted to me after I ducked out of Commissioner Sam Adams’ “Creative Capacity” townhall Tuesday night, due to some previous obligations. I missed the best part.

“What could that possibly mean?” I thought. I mean, I’d seen some of the numbers about arts’ impact on the economy, plus listened to some of the 300 people (give or take) talk about the challenges small arts groups have—and believe me, they’ve got a lot, like troubles finding adequate spaces for shows.

The next morning, I got a sneak preview of what it was I missed—Adams told the crowd that they, not in so many words, needed to get their shit together if they wanted to secure ongoing funding for the arts. Today, thanks to the beauty of internet video, I was able to catch up.

Adams lured arts advocates in with promises of a place to vent their frustrations, and after that, he pummeled them with speeches about the political reality of getting funding. Ultimately, it was something of a call to arms.

Portland ranks 21st among cities in per capita public spending on art; even worse, Oregon ranks 47th among the 50 states. Broken down, Portlanders each spend about six bucks per year for public art, residents in the Metro area spend a bit over $2, and Oregonians as a whole spend less than $1.

If that sounds abysmal, the lessons from Jim Desmond, director of greenspaces for Metro, and political consultant Mark Wiener pushed it over the edge: The prospects of pushing through funding for the arts will be next to impossible—unless arts advocates can organize and then commit time and money for something like a bond measure. Even then, it’s an uphill battle. The last time Portland had an arts bond on the ballot—a 2 percent increase to the hotel tax—the hotel industry crushed it, miserably. According to Wiener, all they had to do was put up some simple white billboards with black text that read “$50 million for art is too much.”

I’d be stretching all known bounds of truth to call myself an artist or an art expert, so I’m wondering what people in the Portland arts community thought/think about Adams’ message. Is the idea of organizing such a disparate community into a solid political campaign even feasible? Is an arts bond even the way to go? What about the idea of public funding for arts in the first place (and I’m talking to artists here, not Republican trolls, thank you)? Does it just foster mediocrity? Should artists rise and fall based solely on their place in the art market?

Here’s the video, if you missed it. If you don’t have time to watch all of it, I recommend skipping to about the 1hr, 15min mark. There’s more here, here, here, and here.

Back in the sweet old days of the Twin Towers and the first season of Survivor, there was one name that all Houston hipsters could count on: Jody Hughes. A one-man electrodancepunk revolution, Hughes took to stages wearing enormous silver spacesuits and sang Motley Crue and Sonic Youth songs through a Vocoder to his own massive synth beats. He was a total smash there, but then he left for LA and spent a handful of years making music in the sun before relocating to PDX last year. Now, his new band, Autotopia, is starting to make the rounds, with a gig at Ground Kontrol (511 NW Couch, w/Mise en Abyme, Misadventures of Two) this Saturday night.

There’s no Vocoder or cover of “Home Sweet Home” in Hughes’ latest incarnation, but Autotopia sounds pretty sweet, based on their myspace tracks. Like the Books, they’re not scared to mix banjos and synths, and Rebecca Stillman’s voice sounds slightly futuristic (like how Stereolab might sound, if they were still remotely relevant). I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot about Autotopia in the future, so go ahead and consider this a Mercury “I Saw Them When” show.

riding the bus on Belmont this afternoon, I saw this ~Hula

todayinpdx@portlandmercury.com

Granted, I’m not a gay man. So you’ll understand that I didn’t get all that worked up about the “Ginch Gonch boys” slated to attend Pride—the Ginch Gonch boys are two young, studly underwear models. But gay men are into that sort of thing, or so I hear.

Want to check them out? Here’s your chance to see them in their undies, and support Basic Rights Oregon. From BRO:

Under U 4 Men is presenting two hours of fun with the Ginch Gonch boys. Benjamin and Ethan will join us in support of Basic Rights Oregon. The Ginch Gonch Boys are the famous International underwear models representing the Ginch Gonch underwear line.

Join Under U 4 Men this Saturday night (June 16th) from 8pm - 10 pm. They have secured use of one of hottest nightclubs in the city for this private event—Boxxes (1035 SW Stark). Boxxes, a non-smoking dance club offers the perfect atmosphere, featuring the Boxxes Go-Go boys all dressed in Ginch Gonch undies. Our hostess for the night will be Sasha, as you enjoy the latest sound, prizes, great drinks and the ‘Boys’!

To attend the event, stop by the store (507 SW Broadway) or their booth at the Portland Pride Festival for a free wristband (required for admission, limited to first 200).

Thank you Under U 4 Men for your ongoing support!

I was just starting to miss my boots and tights when I woke up this morning to a drizzly walk to work. So I guess that worked out… Anyhow, despite environmental evidence to the contrary, Le Train Bleu is starting its summer sale today, with huge markdowns on spring and summer styles. This is my pick, for instance:

This Hedi trench in a mini style and soft lightweight material, marked down to a mere fraction of it’s original retail price. Oh, and don’t dilly dally. Le Train Bleu has a huge online following of shoppers from all over, so there’s plenty of competition.

The world’s only Pulitzer-winning food critic, Jonathan Gold, likes blogs.
JONATHAN GOLD: Spot the critic who eats professionally 12 times a week…

Gold, who was in town last night for a panel discussion at the Hilton, says when he writes a bad review in the LA Weekly, even widely lauded restaurants have been known to close down within two weeks. That’s some power, and he’s learned to take his responsibility seriously.

“When I first started doing this, I had the blood lust, I couldn’t wait to close a place down. But the difference between criticizing a film and a restaurant is that when you criticize a restaurant you are impacting a small business. And I wrote a bad review of this mom and pop place, and it closed down, and two years later, I found myself missing that place more than any other.”

It was a little jarring to see Gold share the stage with people from alternative papers around the country, since obviously, not every alt-weekly can afford the kind of criticism he’s doing. For example, the editor of a paper in North Carolina admitted her paper had stopped doing restaurant reviews after “we lost a lot of advertisers” for doing bad ones. Gold, on the other hand, will visit a restaurant obsessively until he feels he’s an authority on its food. He said he went to one place 17 times before feeling he could do it justice. He also drew a distinction between food criticism and food reporting:

“It’s like the guy who reviews the film or the plays, you go out and find something that rocks your world, and you write about it and hope that everybody gets as excited as you do.”

Obviously, that’s going to require a pretty massive expense account. Gold, who describes himself as “in the entertainment business,” recently ate at every restaurant in LA county that cooks using fire, and wrote a piece on the aesthetics of fire and the way it works its way into food. I mean, Good Lord. He also spoke about reviewing restaurants by “world standards.”

“If there’s a French place, and that’s the best French place in Hollywood, but you really wouldn’t walk to the corner for it in New York, then you’ve got to be honest about that.”

Er…right. I’m always saying the exact same thing, that to REALLY review a sushi place, you’ve got to be honest about how it compares to your favorite dozen sushi venues in Tokyo. Gold did have some encouragement for the rest of us mere mortals, however. He said he likes bloggers, because they build anticipation about a restaurant and there’s a kind of e-feeding frenzy that happens on food blogs every time a new restaurant opens. But the role of the critic, he said, is to reassure bloggers they’re right or wrong about a restaurant, when turning in their review:

“Bloggers are counting on us for standards and consistency of voice, and consistency of taste,” he said. “We’re professionals, and the learning curve is pretty steep. It’s not easy to do this. Some of it is experience, I eat 10-12 times a week, and have reviewed probably 2,000 restaurants in my career. I’ve read thousands of cookbooks, and when I’m writing about something I’ve probably read everything that it’s possible to read about it. It’s just qualitative.”

What an inspiration.

• Space Station computers are still on the blink—Bruce Willis standing by to join rescue team. Yippee-ki-yi-yay, space motherfuckers!

• Mike Myers will be taking on the role of The Who’s Keith Moon. Wait… WHAT?!

• Prince Charles gets a two million dollar raise. Wait… WHAT?!

• Bill Clinton is accused of boinking Las Vegas prostitutes. Wait… Yeah, that sounds about right.

About 10 years ago I was really into collecting film posters—the crazier the better. I ended up with a bunch of Italian one-sheets, which are now languishing in my closet, and the thought of getting them out of storage is daunting. So happy surprise: the “Posters” button on IMDB. Yippee. It’s totally fun to browse your favorite films and see all the poster variants.

Blue Velvet

Wow! That’s some crazy scene that never happened in the movie. Note the bloody ball in the side pocket.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

I like the sinister knifing scene in the top right.

Dario Argento’s films also have a buttload of cool posters to check out.

Last night I journeyed deep into SW Portland (near the border of the dreaded Lake Oswego) to check out our town’s latest music venue, Grapedrink.

No, seriously, it’s called Grapedrink.

Located in a business complex in the middle of nowhere (yet somehow the venue has great freeway access), Grapedrink shares space within the Willamette Athletic Club building. If the beer and rock music are making you feel fat, a treadmill is literally feet away.

Local teen pop stars in the making, The Hugs, played last night, and the space proved to be pretty excellent when it comes to sound, lights, stage, and bar (beer and wine only) options. Plus it’s all-ages, and given its close proximity to the ‘burbs, the sky’s the limit for Grapedrink. And yes, in case you are curious, they serve grape soda.

More photos after the jump…

Gym? Or rock venue?

The stage.

The patio.

The Hugs.

For lunch yesterday, Alison and I hit the new Jace Gace spot on 20th and Belmont (2045 SE Belmont, to be precise). The space itself is fantastic, with a big front sidewalk seating area, which is sometimes preferable to the cloistered back patio that seems more common here in Portland. Inside it’s clean, modern, and casual. For one thing, this’ll be the ‘round the corner spot for whoever is moving into the condos on the corner of 20th and Morrison—smart business move on the location hunting, and it easily serves as a friendly coffee shop where you can buy powdered waffle snacks in the pastry cake. You can also find a selection of beer and wine, and of course, waffle meals. They have several choices for both sweet and savory waffles. Being that it was lunch (and sweets repel me), we tried a couple of the savories: Alison had the grilled cheese waffle, which besides cheese came with tomato and dill, and pickles on the side. She says: “It was a nice idea, but there was too much cheese on it, so it got congealed pretty quickly. But it tasted good until that happened. I would definitely go back, but I think the sweet waffles would be easier to execute. And I really like the space.” I had the juevos rancheros waffles, which were completely serviceable but didn’t blow me away. However, I concur that I would go back. I love cheese so much that I am the kind of person who will peel it off the cardboard of a pizza box, and I want to take a crack at the grilled cheese myself. My primary suggestion for the establishment is that they should take advantage of their chosen medium’s versatility and go nuts with the varieties. It would be great to see as many variations on the waffle as we see with crêpes, but there were only 4-5 savory options on the board. (Further inspection and official review forthcoming.)

Jeez, get a room you two.

Just because Tony Parker and the jerky San Antonio Spurs won the NBA championship tonight, it doesn’t mean he and Eva Longoria have to get all PDA all over the court. Gross.

Now that the worst finals ever are finished, we can all start dreaming about June 28th, the day The Blazers draft this amazing player, who just so happens to blog as well.

Pick up this week’s Mercury: It’s got a huge guide to Pride 2007, from events happening on the waterfront, to all the gay action happening all over town.

Well, all but two really rad events at Acme, and another at Rotture. (Thanks to Alley at the O’s QPX blog for pointing them out!)

So tonight, head to Booty at Acme, the monthly “piratecore” gay dance party. (Acme’s at SE 8th and Main.)

Tomorrow night at Rotture, it’s Juicy: “JUICY QUEER PRIDE PARTY!!! W/ DJ BEYONDA , DJ LINOLEUM, +DJ AUTOMATON @ ROTTURE” Sweet. (Rotture: 315 SE 3rd)

Finally, on Saturday night it’s something fun called Queer Rebellion, back at Acme. That’ll have Booty’s DJ Puppet, Gaycation’s Mr. Charming, plus DJ Boy and DJ Corban. (Acme, $5, 9 pm)

(An aside: HEY ACME!! Get your website up and running. Same goes for Booty—your site hasn’t been updated in months.)

One of the cooler things about Portland is how many comic book creators live here—for those of us who are into comics, it’s not unusual to see Brian Michael Bendis somewhere around town, or to run into some of the friendly peeps from Top Shelf or Dark Horse.

A bunch of Portland’s freelance comic creators have a studio here in town—formerly called Mercury Studio, they’ve renamed themselves Periscope. A bit of the press release:

Mercury Studio, the largest studio of freelance comic book creators in North America, announced today that it has a new name: Periscope. This follows a move to a new space overlooking downtown Portland, long known as a major hub of the comics industry.

“We often invited creators from all ends of the field to come by and work,” explained Jeff Parker, a Periscope member best known for his writing at Marvel Comics. “As we were looking to move to a larger space, Steve Lieber suggested we go ahead and invite some of them to have permanent desks. Now we’re a fairly thorough cross-section of the comics industry.”

“We can really pool resources and let our skills cross-pollinate,” added founding member David Hahn. ” Now it’s common to see a major emerging talent like Colleen Coover swap tips with an established veteran like Ron Randall, or Jesse Hamm assisting Matthew Clark in between his own graphic novels.”

… Periscope credits include properties like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and prestigious graphic novels like Paul Guinan’s Boilerplate and Steve Lieber’s Whiteout, currently filming at Warner Brothers with Kate Beckinsale in the lead role. Upcoming [graphic novels] include the new Minx line’s Good As Lily with work by Hamm, and Meconis’ new book, Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love, which has been greeted with excellent reviews.

Work by several Periscope members is currently featured at Floating World Comics Gallery at 20 NW 5th Ave in Portland.

So now you know. In related news, the Portland Mercury will soon be renamed the Portland Periscope.

Art above and below from Periscope member David Hahn.

Today I got a love note from pink: a (love) courier service. Luckily, said note included that web address, so I could figure out what the heck was going on:

pink: a (love) courier service is both a real life courier service & a site specific art installation. originally commissioned by first night austin, pink began in austin, texas, when a team of volunteer artists and cyclists, under the creative vision of conceptual artist jaclyn pryor, converted an empty downtown storefront into a small & temporary (love) factory. in the course of two short weeks, 2007 people visited pink, wrote love notes, & watched as pink-clad love couriers delivered them, by bicycle, throughout the city.

Anyone else gotten notes delivered to them? If you don’t encounter them earlier, look for pink at the Multnomah County Bike Fair Saturday the 23rd at 2 pm, Col. Summers Park. They’ve been featured on NPR, and check out their very “we’ve-got-our-poop-together” looking headquarters in Austin, though for now they’re on tour:

At SW 6th and Yamhill.

todayinpdx@portlandmercury.com

WHITE JEANS, YES OR NO?

The city’s Independent Police Review is coming under fire for holding two citizen appeals next Tuesday night at the County Courthouse—and refusing to listen to concerns raised by Portland Copwatch that the setting is intimidating.

“I’d say it’s sad that an organization that works daily with people who feel they have been wronged by the police [the Independent Police Review] doesn’t understand fundamentally why that might be an issue,” says Copwatch Activist, Dan Handelman.

The review meeting at 5.30 on June 19 is currently set to take place in room 320 of the county courthouse on SW 4th Ave—which has metal detectors and is manned by armed sheriff’s deputies. Usually, the IPR conducts its Citizens Review Committee (CRC) meetings at city hall, or out in the community.

The setting is particularly unfortunate given the sensitive nature of the citizen appeals: One appeal is by someone alleging officers detained and handcuffed him without cause, harassed him, and falsely cited him, while the second appeal is by someone alleging that officers harassed him because he is Hispanic and falsely arrested him for Misuse of 911 when he called dispatch to report the officers and ask that a supervisor be sent to the location. Both victims are likely to be nerve-wracked by showing up at the courthouse.

The city is currently choosing a consultant to conduct a review of the IPR, to assess its effectiveness—3 years after it originally promised to do so. One area of the review process will be “the satisfaction level of the community as it relates to access, approachability, and treatment” at the hands of the IPR.

An IPR representative says the location of meetings is ultimately decided by the chair of the CRC, Hank Miggins. He’s been contacted, apparently. We’ll let you know what happens.

Actually, I used to like Tommy Chong, I stopped liking Tommy Chong, and now I like Tommy Chong again, and it’s all because of his hilarious comments on MSNBC about the Paris Hilton Jail Scandal. If you missed it, check out the added hilarity of The Colbert Report’s coverage of the hilarity! God, I love this show SO MUCH!!

Kelly Clarkson has just canceled her summer tour, which was supposed to kickoff Wednesday, July 11th here in Portland.

I don’t know why, but I blame this guy.

A couple weeks ago, I broke the news that Willie Nelson was going to be swinging through the area on July 6 to help kick off Portland’s hot new biofuels mandate, which goes into effect on July 1.

BUT! As it turns out, “Bio” Willie is actually stopping in Salem of all places, to help celebrate the groundbreaking of an expansion project at the Sequential-Pacific biodiesel plant there. The plant will likely provide most of the biodiesel for Portland’s mandate, at least until more facilities come online.

Here’s the press release.

In the meantime! BOOOOO! You couldn’t stop by Portland, Willie? Not even to visit your friends at the Portland Mercury? What gives?

Variety has the trailer for one of this year’s most anticipated films (well, it is for me and Chas, anyway)—the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s badass novel No Country For Old Men. Check it out.

In this week’s issue of the paper, John Motley gives Elizabeth Huey’s show at Quality Pictures a great review, and deservedly so. The Brooklyn artist’s paintings are incredibly sophisticated, with disparate styles and motifs wrapping around one one another, all while telling intricate, Darger-like eliptical narratives of asylum nightmares and psychotic spirals.

Unfortunately, we can’t show off the paintings in their full color glory in the paper, so we’ll do our next best and throw up a few jpegs here in an effort to motivate you to see this show. You can also see more of her work at the artist’s website. Chronophobia runs through July 28.

This week on So Hot Right Now, DJ Anjali drops a special mix to get your booty shaking. So Hot Right Now show host, Mike Williams, has this to say about DJ Anjali:

She travels from coast to coast, digging deep into record bins, going to markets, and picking up the latest and dopest in Bollywood, Bhangra, Asian Garage, and Drum and Bass. Amassing a collection of music that literally spans the globe, she ties it all together and takes the dance floor on a motherfucking rocket ride.

Check out the show here.

We do more than blog about duct tape around here, we like music too…

Welcome to the fun parade of Architecture in Helsinki.
MP3: Architecture in Helsinki - Heart It Races

Take off to the great white north with Canada, who are not from Canada. Also, this band, is not from Asia. I am stunned.
MP3: Canada - Hexen Haus

The Texas-sixed ghostly hauntings of Jana Hunter are worth celebrating. Plus, Devendra loves her. Know what he doesn’t love? Showers.
MP3: Jana Hunter - Bird

Bash yer skull on the prog rock with Facing New York.
MP3: Facing New York - The Messenger

We wrote about Lindsey Buckingham, but I don’t have his new record here. And really, does anyone care? Instead, here is a great new song from John Doe (of X), who has aged more gracefully than Bucky.
MP3: John Doe - Hotel Ghost

Being the case that you’ll most likely be hitting the town tonight, why not catch some music with your booze?

Acme–Booty: DJ Puppet, DJ Stormy, DJ Anjali, The Incredible Kid, 9 pm, $3-5
Alberta Street Public House–Hillstomp, Inkwell Rhythm Makers, 9 pm, $5
Berbati’s Pan–Rasco, Serge Severe, Trash Heap, LessinLyricist, Rebel Soulz, Cool Nutz, DJ Kmattic, DJ Zone, 9 pm
Dante’s–Amadan, Rum Rebellion, MDC Unplugged, Sid & Fancy, 9:30 pm, $5
Doug Fir–Keren Ann, Jason Hart, Day of Lions, 8 pm, $10-12
Holocene–Protest Hill, Kieskagato, Chris Tsefalas, 9 pm, $5
Music Millennium NW–Blue Scholars, 6 pm, free, all ages
Rotture–I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul: DJ Beyonda, DJ KG, 9 pm, $3
Someday Lounge–The Fix: Ohmega Watts, Rev. Shines, DJ Kez, DJ Dun Diggy, 9 pm, free
Valentine’s–Jonathan Sielaff, Matt Marble, John Krausbauer, Janice McKeachern, Brown, 9 pm, free

Alright, food nerds. As you may know, Ms. Naomi Pomeroy left clarklewis in May, when it was purchased by Bruce Carey (who also runs 23 Hoyt and Bluehour). Here’s the official word on Pomeroy’s new digs, Beast, owned by Yakuza chef Micah Camden and located in the space next door.

Beast is scheduled to breakout on Bastille Day, in honor of its French bistro origins. The brainchild of chef Micah Camden (Yakuza), Beast will offer rustic fare made from local produce and meats that express the “joie de vivre” of the Pacific Northwest. At just 30 seats, Beast will be a more intimate affair than the increasingly large “family supper” feasts that I was cooking at clarklewis on Sundays. Fellow Lady-Cook Mika Parades (clarklewis, family supper) will be in the Beast kitchen alongside me and we might pick up some other people from the old ripe empire crew to help us sling wine and food. The menu will always feature a daily meat&charcutrie plate, a vegetable plate, and a cheese plate. The full menu is still being fleshed out, but classics like French onion soup and mac ‘n cheese gratinèe (with escargots) are strong contenders…It is also highly likely that my friend the suckling-pig, will make frequent appearances- stuffed with boudin maison…and sewed up lovingly by yours truly. Additionally, we are busy assembling a wine list that will encourage adventure and also offer familiar favorites; all of the 20 or so wines will be available by the taste, glass or bottle.

Tentative Soft Opening date: Bastille Day, July 14.
Tentative Opening date: Early August

Weekday dinner days/hours will be Wed.-Friday 6-11.
Weekend Brunch: Saturday and Sunday reservation-only Brunch
**(guaranteed seats for brunch will be a beautiful thing in this brunch-crazed town)
Weekend Sunday Supper: prix fixe, family-style suppers.

We will have a website up by Mid-July: www.beastpdx.com

• Lou Pearlman—the boy-band empresario behind Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC, who stands accused of securities and bank fraud—is finally discovered hiding in Indonesia, and says “Bye-Bye-Bye” to freedom. (That’s an N*SYNC joke by the way, and… oh, forget it.)

• Girls Gone Wild douchebag Joe Francis is sued again—this time by two women who had NO IDEA they were being lured on the GGW tour bus, and plied with liquor, to engage in sex scenes that would be shown to the world on two extremely popular DVDs. I’m not blaming the victim. I blame society.

• Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani doesn’t want the media to mention that his wife is a puppy killer. Consider our lips sealed.

•Paris Hilton is back in her old cell at the all-women’s correctional facility after finally being declared “medically stable.” Hope she brought enough cigarettes to trade for Prozac.

•An internal FBI audit reveals that the organization may have violated privacy laws over 1000 times while collecting information on individuals. But… but… PRESIDENT BUSH PROMISED!!

The Oregonian’s Metro editors finally did as we told them this morning and covered the sidewalk debate at City Hall. Not only does Ryan Frank’s article, “City Hall Addresses All Things Sidewalk” quote the editor of this paper, it also makes the obvious connection between people’s right to tape off a section of the sidewalk downtown, and the questionable “right” of the downtown business community to effectively do so year-round by kicking homeless people off the streets.

Leonard on Wednesday had a few more good laughs. His face turned red when he chuckled at William Steven Humphrey, editor of the alternative newspaper the Portland Mercury, which led a tape-ripping brigade the night before the parade.”I am in violent agreement with you, my friend,” Humphrey said excitedly and with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

The article is still clearly biased, because as I mentioned here before, the boss of the Portland Business Alliance, Sandra McDonough, whose organization is widely viewed as pushing for the controversial sit/lie ordinance, used to write for the Oregonian. Also, the Oregonian hates the homeless. But it’s worth a read. Good work Ryan.

Via Voicemail:

Hi Matt, It’s Jared Spencer here from the mayor’s office giving you the heads-up. We’re going to have just a closed, internal, committee membership meeting so no non-committee members allowed. Give me a call back.

Spencer could give me no reason for the meeting staying closed. I pointed out that it’s against the first amendment to curtail the freedom of the press. I told him I’d be at the public meeting anyway. John Doussard, the mayor’s communications director, is apparently going to call me back.

UPDATE, 6pm: Spencer says the mayor’s office has changed its mind. I’m going to be there.

Our friends over at the Willamette Week, a free alternative weekly newspaper published right here in Portland (you can find their papers in blue boxes on street corners), are once again standing up for the little guys.

And by “little guys,” I mean “federal agents working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” who raided a Portland fruit plant yesterday and arrested 167 undocumented workers—a raid that was based at least in part on a May 2 story by WW writer Beth Slovic. Her piece, “Chop Shop,” detailed the working conditions at the plant, and also mentioned the fact that, whooops!, most of the employees were undocumented.

Slovic’s article was quoted in three and a half pages of ICE’s affidavit (pages 20-24), which was prepared by an ICE agent named Maximillian L. Trimm. (Seriously? Maximillian Trimm? If that isn’t the best porn name ever, I don’t know what is.)

The Dub-Dub has posted an update to Slovic’s feature with the news about the immigration raid—that post has already drawn fire from immigrant rights’ supporters blaming the paper for the raid, as well as a number of right-wing xenophobes praising WW for inadvertently getting the workers deported.

In truth, I believe Slovic set out to tell a story about the awful working conditions the plant workers faced, so it’s got to sting to have her piece used by ICE in an action that will even more thoroughly fuck those workers. Youch!

p.s. I should add that I got my journalistic start by writing feature stories about the plight of immigrant workers (sheepherders and construction workers, documented and undocumented), and I never went “undercover” for any of the stories. I gained the trust of the subjects by assuring them that I wouldn’t write anything that would identify them or otherwise lead to retribution against them. I’m not in the habit of blowing my own horn, but one of those stories won a New California Media award (not a Pulitzer or anything, but still), and as far as I know, nobody ever got deported because of anything I wrote. Just sayin’.

While Matt’s busy yakking away about how great it is that city council voted to delay the Sit-Lie law until all of the promised provision are put into place, it’s worth remembering that a majority of city council still supports the policy in general, and that it’s only a matter of time before it is implemented.

That said, I’d like to announce that the Mercury has already decided to endorse a candidate for the 2008 mayoral race. Let me introduce…this guy:

Thanks, RT, for the link.

I never get to blog about anything political. (“Wonky”?)

This is totally my moment.

From Michael Rhod, re: Good

Sam Adams is doing the cameo performance you watched carole morse do the evenings of June 22 and 23

Yes! That was awesome.

So, Sam Adams Cameo in Sojourn Theatre’s Good. Go see it. Then come back here, and tell me what you thought. I would love to hear some feedback from people who don’t usually make it to the theater—it’s a really interesting, really unusual show that I think will have broad appeal. Definitely worth seeing.

$10-15; 30 tix per performance
Reservations strongly recommended
Tix: here or 971.544.0464
Wear comfortable shoes

I’m very excited for the upcoming show from London’s The Veils on June 26th at Doug Fir. Since that is 13 days away, let us all kill some time and enjoy this video for “Advice For Young Mothers To Be.”

Just as it looks like another video of a band playing in front of a pink backdrop, out come the babies. So many babies. It’s like Weezer’s “Sweater Song,” but with babies.

Next time you have a serious craving for carbs, this might be just the thing: Jace Gace just opened up at 2045 SE Belmont, specializing in waffles, beer, and art. (The first artist/tattooist currently showing in the gallery is Cheyenne Sawyer.) We’ll be sure to get down there soon and let you know how it is, but if anyone’s already been, we’d love to know what you think.

It’s a great day for Portland. Or a good day, at least. Portland just voted to delay all enforcement, even verbal warnings, on the city’s sit/lie ordinance until a shower is open at the Street Access For Everyone (SAFE) group’s day access center, showers and lockers are open under the freeway on NW Lovejoy, 25 more benches are in place, and an operating 24-hour bathroom is installed.

That should give the oversight committee something to get moving on when it meets tomorrow morning. Council did not set a deadline for these things to be achieved, but Sten said he’d be comfortable moving ahead when those measures are in place, “whether it’s next week or October.”

The mayor’s public safety manager Maria Rubio said “I’d just like you to keep in mind the hundreds of hours the committee has spent on this. I would just like you to keep in mind that the committee did its work and that if there was any misunderstanding, I apologize for that, but this committee maintained its integrity.”

Saltzman voted no. “We keep moving the goalposts,” he said.

Potter voted no. “I’m disappointed that it’s come down to this,” he said.

“I actually think that the result of this resolution passing will cause these very important amenities to be put in place sooner,” said Leonard. Adams and Sten voted with him.

Well done, city council! Good day.

If you haven’t been to the closing sale at Ozone Records (701 E Burnside) you’ll need to hustle. Last you heard they were selling EVERYTHING for 40% off, but now it’s 60%! Plus there’s still tons of music (good stuff even—I picked up some Red House Painters I was missing and a Ween album). Vinyl galore, T-shirts, and a lot of hiphop. I know you’re sad that they’re shuttering the doors, but now would be a good time to help them close up proper. There’s even rumors of further discounts (think 60% is good, wait till it hits 80%).

Friday night check out the last in-store show with Brokaw, Fist Fite, Colin Jones, and Lactacious.
Fri June 15, 9 pm, all ages, free

This from Colin Jones…
“The first show I ever played in Portland was at Ozone Records in the afternoon on a Saturday with Casiocity as Brokaw. I’m gonna miss this store a lot… no way am I alone. The chance to play the last show in this store is special, so we aren’t fucking around.”

“We’re just about there, but at this point in time, we probably haven’t quite gotten over the bar,” said Sten, addressing a spokesman for the Portland Business Alliance. “I voted for it in May thinking we’d be a little bit further along by the time we are now, and we’re not.”

“We’re about to have an up-down vote here in a second, and if I’m reading things right, I might be the swing vote, and one side’s gonna win, and one side’s gonna lose.”

Drama!

The PBA spokesman says if they delay the ordinance, members of the PBA might lose trust. That’s got Sten angry.

“What I’m hearing the homeless advocates say very clearly is that they’d want to hold things up just a little bit, but that they don’t want to do that because they don’t want to offend the PBA and the police. You’re saying you might walk away losing trust, and those are the kinds of lines in the sand that are gonna push me away from your position.”

“What concerns me is, in this period, where do you expect these people to go? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is: Across the Burnside Bridge,” says Randy Leonard.SIT/LIE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Faces council…

Leonard says he doesn’t want the ordinance in place until the day that the “last nail is hammered into the day access center, the last locker is in place for people to store their belongings, the last restroom is there, the last bench is in place.”

He’s hammered the homeless advocates on the oversight committee for not bargaining hard enough with the Portland Business Alliance—widely viewed as the driving force behind the sit/lie ordinance.

“What’s happened is, we’ve agreed with one side of the community on the enforcement of the ordinance, but on the other side, we haven’t delivered the services,” says Leonard. “I come from a bargaining background. And with respect to my friends in the advocacy community, they seem to have lost their hammer.”

BREAKING NEWS: Erik Sten just showed up. Hooray!

Randy Leonard’s going to co-chair a committee with the Rose Festival Association, the Portland Business Alliance, and a bunch of other “interested folks.” He thinks he can get it done in the next three months.

Dan Saltzman asked Leonard to make a commitment to “be fair” in the committee. He’s also had a go at him for talking about suburbanites.

“I especially appreciate, coming from you, saying I should be open minded,” Leonard hit back at Saltzman. “I don’t think I need a lesson on how to process problems. I may be strong-willed but I’m also honest.”

So it’s done. Leonard will come back to council in 3 months with a suggested solution.

“This is not your grandma’s rose festival anymore,” finished Adams.

Commissioners, thank you for letting me speak to you today about parade goers taping the sidewalk. My name is Wm. Steven Humphrey and not only am I the editor of the Portland Mercury newspaper, I’m a citizen who believes strongly in a sense of community. As one of the primary organizers of last Friday night’s tape removal march—or as it’s officially known, “the Pre-Parade Route Beautification and Equalization of Viewing Opportunity Hoedown” (I promise we’ll have a better name next year)—I feel like the practice of taping off the sidewalk by parade goers days in advance of the event is primarily a selfish act.

As one parade goer asked me, “What’s wrong with me reserving a spot on the parade route for myself, my family, and 50 of my friends?” While this person truly thought he was being generous, he was actually putting his needs, his family and his friends over the needs of thousands of parade goers. The sidewalks belong to everyone, and taping off a spot at the parade is tantamount to reserving a spot at the front of the line at the bank, DMV or the new Transformers movie. As Portlanders, we already agree to a social contract that we are all equal, and we will all share public space. These people are clearly violating that contract—and with the city’s permission.

I personally, have nothing bad to say about those who camp out on the sidewalks the night before the parade. In fact, I applaud their civic pep, and enjoy the sense of community and comraderie they bring to the streets. But is it really fair to these people as well as those who show up on the day of the parade to be shoved aside, by those who feel they are entitled to a piece of sidewalk they taped off days in advance? I think that stinks.

Now there are those who say that stopping the tapers is messing with tradition— I love tradition, but tradition should never come at the expense of others. The real tradition is showing up for the parade early, and enjoying each other’s company and sharing the spirit of community. There are also those who say the Pre-Parade Route Beautification and Equalization of Viewing Opportunity Hoedown committee (sorry), should’ve waited for the council to vote on the matter but ripping up everyone’s tape. I respect that opinion. But frankly, we didn’t feel like it. Sometimes non-violent action is the necessary course in order for an issue to be brought to the public’s attention. We politely marched and tore up the tape for the same reasons thousands of people marched through Portland to protest the war in Iraq. Because it was the right thing to do and we are proud of the work we did.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the commissioners for addressing this issue, and to remind everyone in Portland—whether we’re dealing with tapers or downtown business owners— the sidewalks belong to everyone. Thank you.

Amanda Fritz just said “I haven’t been that excited about council testimony for some time.” She added that she hopes the discussion draws attention to the next council resolution, about delaying enforcement of the sit/lie law.

The Portland Business Alliance supports the mayor’s sidewalk tape committee, incidentally.

Mayor Tom Potter wants the Rose Festival Association to form a SIDEWALK TAPE COMMITTEE. And no, I’m not kidding.

He’s just proposed a resolution to Randy Leonard’s resolution, suggesting the Rose Festival Association take the next six months to talk about the whole deal, and then come back to city council. Leonard says he’s happy to convene such a committee in his own office, including the Rose Festival Association, Portland neighborhoods, and any other interests, but he doesn’t want the mayor to dish the responsibility for the issue over the Rose Festival, “a private organization.” “I think it’s inappropriate to have a private group oversee a process that includes public safety,” he added. “This is not an appropriate role for the Rose Festival Association.”

“My resolution asked the Rose Festival Association to conduct a community outreach process to find ways that we can find solutions,” said Mayor Potter. “This is an issue that I believe is best decided by the community and I would rather not impose punitive sanctions that would require the police to be out with their ticket books prior to the Rose Festival next year. I’d like us as a community to look at some broader approaches.”

The Mayor and Commissioner Leonard look to be agreeing to a compromise, with Leonard co-chairing the Sidewalk Tape Committe with the president of the Rose Festival Association.

“What I really don’t want to do is send a message to the community that there may be some legitimacy in taping off the sidewalks,” added Leonard.

Steve’s about to testify.

We’re live-blogging at City Hall, with Randy Leonard’s sidewalk tape ordinance about to come up for discussion. Last week, the mayor of Gresham wrote to Leonard, slamming him for comments reported in the Oregonian and on a radio talk show, about Greshamites coming to Portland to tape off their own sections of the sidewalk. Here’s what Mayor Shane Bemis had to say:

I’ve got to say that your words bordered on the grumpy…I want to extend an open invitation to Portlanders, Vancouverites, and everybody else in the region to come to our 25th annual Teddy Bear Parade in Gresham on September 29. This is one of our most enjoyable community events, and this year will be no exception. Further, I’d like to invite Commissioner Leonard to join me in the Teddy Bear Parade as an effort to show our regional solidarity. I might even be able to talk our Fire Department into letting you ride on a truck. Of course, if you would rather just be a spectator, we would be happy to tape off a special spot for you.

Here’s Leonard’s response, today:

I appreciate your letter inviting me to the Teddy Bear Parade on September 29. I heartily accept your invitation because, as you know, Gresham is very nearly the best city in Oregon. That is why I am planning to annex you next spring using duct tape which I will have affixed around your boundary. Apparently the duct tape will help us avoid a lot of the nasty legal mumbo jumbo, and just get to the business of acquiring you.

In the meantime, I am hopeful that you are serious about allowing me to ride in the parade aboard one of your Gresham Fire apparatus, as I feel I may need the protection of my firefighter brothers and sisters to escape the parade without injury.

Finally, I wanted to address my comments, which were perceived by you and your citizens to be “grumpy.” For the record, that was me attempting humor, which I should not do because although I laugh a lot, I am not funny. Your letter on the other hand was very humorous. I am hopeful that we can have lunch soon, and perhaps you would consider giving a neighboring commissioner (for now) a few lessons.

It’s 12:20, and the tape ordinance is coming up.

Tonight, something truly innovative in the publishing community will be launching here in Portland: It’s Out of the Book, a new film series developed by Powell’s to promote new books in lieu of author tours. I wrote about the series in the paper last week: The film they made about Ian McEwan’s new book, On Chesil Beach is really intelligent and entertaining. The book is about two virgins approaching their wedding night in 1962, and the film features McEwan reading from the book, literary bigwigs talking about McEwan, and artistic documentary footage evocative of the text. The night will conclude with a discussion of the book and film with local bookworms like Marc Acito and Tin House’s Lee Montgomery, and will include a short musical set by Laura Gibson. Here’s the preview, just to give you an idea:

Australia’s Architecture in Helskini, one of indie-rock’s finest bands, will grace our fair city this Friday at the Wonder Ballroom. In honor of this, we have a pair of tickets to give away. Contest details are below, but before you enter, be sure to pick up a copy of their awesome Heart It Races EP, which was released last week.

Contest Details:
Identify as many famous Australians from the photo below, and email your answers to ezra@portlandmercury.com before 5pm today. In the result of a tie, the first answer received will be the winner. No crying.

City Commissioner Erik Sten will miss city council’s controversial vote on whether to delay enforcement of the sit/lie ordinance this morning. STEN: Represents the homeless. But will miss crucial vote…

Sten is reportedly testifying as a character witness somewhere in Oregon, and would have faced a subpoena to appear had he not gone voluntarily, but his absence from this morning’s vote is likely to have direct, street-level implications for Portland’s homeless, who face being told to get off the sidewalks with no place else to go.

The mayor’s Street Access For Everyone (SAFE) committee has promised benches, restrooms and a day access center for the homeless as political justification for imposing its sit/lie law. But so far, it has delivered only 6 of 25 promised benches, is yet to build a single new restroom for them to go to, and a day access center for a supposed 150 people only has capacity for 50.

Sten’s staffers would not say which way he would have voted on the ordinance, had he been here. It’s possible Leonard will be supported by Adams, but that Saltzman and Potter will vote against. So Sten’s absence could mean Leonard’s resolution fails.

So: Are we to believe this “character witness” hearing could not have been moved? I don’t think so. Sten is ducking out of this vote because he does not want to go head to head with the Portland Business Alliance (PBA), which is widely viewed as the driving force behind the sit/lie law.

In exchange for the sit/lie law, Sten gets support for a permanent day access center for the homeless from the PBA—which had previously opposed such measures. So he’s being a “pragmatist” with homeless people’s rights.

How convenient for everybody. And how sad.

City Arts and Culture Commissioner Sam Adams showed what he’s calling “tough love” to Portland’s 400 most influential arts managers last night.ADAMS INTRODUCES THE EVENING IN STYLE…

Adams let rip his humdinger comments at the Armory Theater after letting the arts managers bitch for close to an hour about “problems” and “opportunities” for Portland to capitalize on its cultural capital. “You’re the worst-organized constituency group in this city,” he said. In response, the audience let out a collective gasp.

Adams says he wanted to show the audience “tough love.” It included people like Eloise Damrosch, the director of the Regional Arts and Community Council (RACC), and managers from the Portland Development Commission, among others.

Let’s see how his speech goes down…personally I’m expecting the collective release of a bunch of deflective statements about “process” and “community involvement” any minute. But it would be nice if those in the audience actually heard the criticism and made sincere efforts to respond to it.

So this is great: The once-excellent Premiere magazine (it’s now online only, which is sad) has a rundown of “20 Movies Not Coming Soon to a Theater Near You.̶