I meant to blog this earlier today to give you guys a heads up, but I totally spaced it. (What? Kanye West’s Graduation leaked, and I got distracted.) But okay, here it is, a bit late but still good: If you’ve got some cash burning a hole in your pocket this weekend, Excalibur Comics (2444 SE Hawthorne) is having their usual huge-ass Labor Day weekend sale, with 50 percent off all back issues. (Yes, it’s pretty much as awesome as it sounds.) The good stuff usually gets snatched up pretty quick, so head over there ASAP if you’re interested—the sale runs from today through Monday, so here’s your chance to fill in those holes in your collection or just buy a whole bunch of crappy comics you’d never pay full price for.

We get a wide variety of letters mailed to us here at the old birdcage lining company—many hostile and several complimentary, as well as the occasionally batshit crazy missive. I particularly enjoy receiving mail from the loyal readers we have in our state prisons. They probably don’t have the best selection of up-to-date periodicals on the inside, and I like the idea that we can give them a little bit of a vicarious peek at what local shows and bars and restaurants they might be going to check out if they weren’t stuck in the clink. Returning the favor, here’s a reader giving us a peek of his life, were prisons to publish drinking issues:

Dear Mercury, I was just reading your story (“How the other half drinks”) and was inspired to add one: “Drink Like a Prisoner.” I had just gotten a new celly about a week and a half ago, he was fresh off the chain and had never been to state prison before. I had to show him around and show him how this place works including how to drink like a prisoner. First we had to wait for our monthly random shakedown, and with a new guy in the cell it was bound to happen soon. With that out of the way we then had to secure the 4 ingedients needed from the kitchen workers, It’s a risk so we pay them off with coffee and envelopes. Now we are ready to make the prisoner’s delight, “toilet wine.” We mix all the ingredients in a plastic garbage bag with two pitchers of 190-degree water and hide it in our cell, and for 3 days we eat and go to the yard in shifts. We always have someone in our cell in case we get another shakedown, we can act like we’re pooping to get the break we need to dump the wine. After 3 days we strain it into pitchers and we are ready, we have 2 qts apiece of high power sauce, now the trick is to drink it down fast and don’t breathe, it tastes horrible but gets the job done if you can hold it down. Now fully loaded and evidence disposed of, it’s time to head out to the yard. But first my celly is feeling his oats, so we get into a wrestling match on the floor of my cell but it’s too small and he cracks his head on a steel shelf. Bleeding stops, yard line, we stay to one side of the hallway and try to maintain, walk in a straight line and don’t breathe on any cops, pray to god we don’t get pulled over for a pat down, they smell it and we’re done. We make it to the yard with about 800 other inmates, we have 2.5 hours to stumble around and enjoy our buzz. We come across one of my partners from another unit, him and his celly did the same thing so we pull up a table with them and start telling stories and laughing. My celly laughs so hard he falls out of his seat. It draws attention and the cop in the gun tower starts watching with binoculars, so we quiet down. Booze wearing off, and hangover already kicking in, it’s time to go inside. My head is pounding so bad it’s making me crosseyed—one of the unfortunate side effects of toilet wine. Later that night I wake up and my celly is sleeping on the floor, resting his head on the toilet. Good times.

Enjoy the long weekend, and enjoy your freedom.

BEHOLD! The Japanese have once again eclipsed us in the arena of “technology.” But this time… HAVE THEY GONE TOO FAR? Check out this horrifying commercial for a robot cat called Yume Neko Smile. The downside? It yells when you pull its tail. The upside? No one will care when you bag it up, and toss it in the river.

Many of the yearly Halloween haunting extravaganzas are starting to gather & organize this year’s ghoulish shenanigans. Here are two opportunities to get your spook on, if that sort of thing floats your boat.

From Baron Von Goolo’s Museum of Horrors (at Fright Town, beneath the Memorial Coliseum at the Rose Quarter):

At 7pm on Wednesday, September 5, we’re going to have our first get-together of the season in the FrightTown space at the Coliseum. If you’re a new volunteer, this will be a great chance to see FrightTown in its most raw state, get a chance to meet your fellow haunters and get a lot of your burning questions answered. We will be going over the nature of all three of the haunted houses, talking about the parts there are to play, the projects that need to happen before opening, and how you can help us get the word out to everyone and their dog that FrightTown is the best place to go for scares in this sleepy burg.

From Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery:

On Halloween night Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery presents the third annual Tour of Untimely Departures! The Tour walks guests through time for a visit with some of the people who were laid to rest in the cemetery over 100 years ago.

To do this, each year people are chosen to play the roles of the selected characters for the tour. Groups of guests are led by a guide through the cemetery on a candle lit path where they meet the “ghosts” of the past who tell the tale of the life and time from which they came, and how they came to rest in the cemetery.

We are in need of volunteers for this year’s event. Volunteer Positions include but are not limited to: Set up/Break down, Actors/Actresses (amateurs welcome), Guides, and Security. Lone Fir Cemetery is on the corner of SE 20th and SE Morison, Halloween is on Wed. this year, and the event goes from 6-9pm. I will be holding the first volunteer orientation on Saturday September 22nd, 10am at the cemetery.

Someone with whom I’ve been having an anonymous email exchange over the last few weeks—and incidentally, these are GREAT FUN, just loaded with mistrust and possibility—just emailed me this link to braille graffiti in Portland. And I love it:
GRAFFITI: Randy Leonard better ban braille, and quick…

The project, it seems, is the work of Scott Wayne Indiana, whom Mercury arts editor Chas Bowie tells me is also the guy behind the plastic horse project, downtown. If so, Scott, could you replace the plastic horsey on NW Park and Glisan? It’s getting really battered.

Anyway Indiana’s latest project has been mentioned on national websites but my “deep throat” emailer says he hasn’t seen much local coverage. And my google-search tactics haven’t revealed much, either. Indiana says on his website that the idea has been tried in other cities but that he wanted to give it a distinctly Portland flavor.

What interests me about this project is that the city’s graffiti abatement coordinator, Marcia Denis, has been telling anyone who’ll listen since I came to Portland that “there’s no such thing as a graffiti ‘artist’.” Has she finally been proved wrong?

Lookout! The new Britney Spears single was leaked last night, which means it’s time for you to judge: Will you BUMP IT or DUMP IT? In the “pro” column, “Gimme More” is written and overproduced by Danja (which isn’t a bad thing—Britney’s best songs are overproduced club hoppers). Plus its hook isn’t half bad. In the “con” column, it’s still hard to listen to this song without my mind wandering off to that photo where her wig is falling off and her ass is hanging out. Nevertheless, spout off in the comments below and let us know if it’s worthy of bumpage or dumpage.

Listen to “Gimme More” here!

Right now there are two trailers out for American Gangster, a promising-enough film directed by Ridley Scott, written by Steven Zaillian, and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. I’ve got high hopes for it—Scott can be awesome, and I’ve yet to be disappointed by either Washington or Crowe.

But they’re weird, these two trailers: They’re advertising the same film, but watching them side by side, you can see how they’re targeting different audiences. This happens a lot when films have more than one trailer, but I always find it interesting. In this case, a lot of what makes them different is their music: The first pumps up the Jay-Z and focuses on the action elements of the story, while the second uses Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street” (which was previously used, more or less, as the theme for Tarantino’s Jackie Brown) before kicking into some melodramatic strings and a way more retro/operatic/dramatic feel. The two trailers even have different logos for the film’s title—number one is a striking red and white logo that utilizes NYC’s skyline, while number two just has a tasteful/generic typeface that spells out the title.

Hands down, movie trailers are one of my favorite things about film—but I always think it’s interesting to see them like this, where one film can be portrayed in subtly different ways. It is, in the end, all about selling admission tickets for opening weekend—the question is who Universal is targeting with the first trailer, and who they’re targeting with the second. (If YouTube’s video descriptions are reliable [ehhh…], the first trailer is the U.S. version, and the second is the one Universal’s using to sell the picture overseas—so then it becomes about what appeals to Americans vs. what appeals to everyone else.)

Anyway: Which one do you guys dig more? (I’m going to go with the first one, if only because I like Jay-Z’s old stuff, and the way the trailer’s put together—esp. that final shot—make it feel a bit fresher than the more maudlin second one.)

American Gangster - Trailer One.

American Gangster - Trailer Two.

The lovely ladies at Crafty Wonderland sent out an email last night, outlining the hip holiday craft fairs happening around town (and some cities up North) in December that have rapidly approaching application deadlines. If you’re interested in selling your homemade wares this holiday season, check these out:

The people behind Seattle’s I Heart Rummage have launched I Heart Indie Holidays, a craft fair with three NW venues!
November 24th, Seattle

December 2nd, Portland

December 9th, Bellingham

Vendors who apply for all three shows get a break in the booth fee prices. Applications are due Friday, August 31st, so hurry!! For more information, please visit their website.

Urban Craft Uprising is celebrating it’s third holiday season on December 1st and 2nd in Seattle with over 100 vendors! This year, they’re accepting applications for a fine art gallery section too. Applications are due September 7th. Please visit their website for more information.

Portland’s own Handmade Bazaar always puts on a great holiday show as well. They haven’t announced the date(s) yet, but if you sign up on their mailing list, you’ll be the first to hear when applications are being accepted.

And don’t forget to apply for Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Holiday Sale on December 16th if you haven’t already! Information and applications are here.

Toy Fare has released their list (with photographic evidence, ‘natch) of the 100 Best Action Figures of All Time! Get ready to geek out to Optimus Prime, Green Lantern, Fozzie Bear, Clubber Lang, and my personal favorite, the Stephen Hawking action figure (from The Simpsons). Not only can he run your ass down, his wheelchair comes equipped with helicopter rotors and a boxing glove! Sah-weet!

In the past week, two friends have spontaneously and independently recommended that I check out Vino Vixens, on SE 29th & Powell (one of them sent me the above cell-phone photo). Now, I knew Vino Vixens was a wine shop that hosts tastings and accessible-sounding classes (like “How to Look Like a Wine Snob in Under Two Hours”), but apparently behind the retail wine space is a very comfortable lounge area with couches, board games (Scrabble!), a pool table, a TV so you can bring in DVDs, plus I believe you can bring your own food. One friend described it as as “like my living room, but better” and “a great date spot,” while the other (a former bartender & foodie type) raved about the knowledgeable service. Wine by the glass and bottle, and I’ve been told that the prices are very reasonable. I’m looking forward to checking it out, it sounds cool.

Here’s an interview with owner Erin Marie-Palmer that portlandfoodanddrink.com ran earlier this year:

Vixens was born of many needs; the first of which was that Portland desperately needed a hip bar that’s comfortable for the non-smoking 30-60-ish crowd. The second was that Portland is only minutes from the some of the best wines in the world and we should show our support for their businesses. The third need was continue to run businesses that are values based to show other business owners that it can be done.

Vino Vixens, 2929 SE Powell. 231-8466

French people sure do sound smart, don’t they? Unfortunately, the average Frenchie is just as brain dead as your average American hillbilly. For proof, check out this clip of France’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in which the contestant (and much of the audience) cannot figure out if the moon or the sun revolves around the earth.
Sacre bleu!

A band older than dirt itself, the Subhumans are passing through Portland tonight. When it comes to both preaching and practicing a DIY lifestyle, few artists can touch Subhumans frontman Dick Lucas (who also sings in Citizen Fish, the second ska reference this week), who splits time in both bands, runs his own record label and still makes time to cut the sleeves off all his shirts.

In choosing what video to play, it came down to the very serious “Religious Wars,” or a song called “Mickey Mouse Is Dead.”

Sorry Disney, I had to…

The Subhumans perform at the Hawthorne Theatre tonight.

A military plane carrying members of Congress was shot at near the Baghdad airport, but no one was hurt. Ahhhh, how they’re welcoming us as liberators.

Shocker! Sen. Larry “I am not gay” Craig may resign, which would allow Idaho Republican Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to appoint a replacement. Oh, good. I can’t wait to see what totally not gay Republican Butch Otter appoints.

An excerpt from yesterday’s ruling by an Iowa court striking down that state’s same-sex marriage ban: “This court has yet to hear any convincing argument as to how excluding same-sex couples from getting married promotes responsible reproduction in general or by different-sex couples in particular,” Judge Robert Hanson wrote.

Someone call John Goodman, NOW! A park near Dallas, Texas is the site of a vast spider web that stretches for acres and is home to millions of spiders. From the Times: “The web whines with the sound of countless mosquitoes and flies trapped in its folds.”

Hey, everybody! Let’s go swim in the Willamette!

Soooooo… you’ve got one of those fancy-pantsy iPhones, eh? Well, BIG FAWKING DEAL. I’m spending all my hard earned cash on this awesome example of Japanese technology, the “TV set with a cassette recorder stuck in its side!” (So what if it’s a little old? It’s still cooler than your TV.)

Tip o’ the hat to TV in Japan!

Below is Andrew Tonry’s preview of tonight’s Stevie Wonder concert:

STEVIE WONDER
(Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale) Did you get your tickets for Stevie Wonder? Probably not, seeing as they sold out in about an hour, which figures, this being Stevie’s first tour in 10 years and all. So I guess I’ll be slithering in the back way—two miles through brambles and blackberry bushes—if only to catch a mere glimpse of the legend himself. Sometimes I wonder if Stevie gets all the credit he deserves. Try naming five artists still touring—or still alive for that matter—in the same league as him. It’s not easy. All questions of legacy aside for a moment, the dude is just that fucking bad. Go YouTube “Stevie Wonder drum solo” and you’ll see what I mean.

Ok Andrew, I’ll take you up on that, here it is:

Holy crap. That might have been the greatest 6:37 I have ever spent in my life.

Stevie Wonder is performing at Edgefield tonight. It’s way sold out. Dang.

UPDATE, FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 9:54: You can read more of Matthew Stadler’s work on the suburbs here, and here. Stadler points out that Charles Mudede’s Stranger piece [linked to, below] had some innaccuracies, and bitches out some of the commenters here who question his assertion that “Beaverton is denser than Portland” because “he included Forest Park” in his stats. That’s bullshit. Heh-heh. Thanks, Matthew, for the email. And nice first name, by the way…

I also wonder if you could post a correction for the commenters who stated that my density figures include Forest Park, etc. They don’t (see my comment @32), and I find it especially aggravating that the really interesting issues raised by the metro region’s varying densities are dismissed just by asserting (falsely) that Portland is denser. Apropos of that, one of Charles’s inaccuracies is his botched quote “for every one new immigrant moving to Portland, five move to Beaverton.” The census says that five move to “the suburbs,” meaning everything around Portland, for every one that moves to Portland itself.

Hopefully that should give you all something to chew on.

ORIGINAL POST, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 13:33: I went for lunch in Beaverton yesterday, and I’ve been trying to figure out why we don’t all just move there.Road to Beaverton: Portland’s Road to Damascus?

After driving around for ten minutes trying to find the place, my friends and I stopped in at the Jin Wah seafood restaurant on SW 117th for some rather delicious Dim Sum:
DIM SUM: I’ll have sum of that…

The Dim Sum was excellent, thanks for asking. Although it’s hard to go wrong with smoked pork buns and potstickers—unless, like one of my dining companions, you happen to be fatally allergic to shrimp, when I imagine the ladies coming round with the carts offering you “more? more? more?” take on a rather more menacing edge. Afterwards, I stopped in at Uwajimaya and picked up some curry paste and lemongrass for less than three bucks. But what’s the point of telling you this, you ask? Good question…

Since asking “What’s the point of Portland?” two weeks ago, I’ve been reflecting hard on what it means to live in this city, and what it is, specifically, that we value about the place: We like riding our bikes. Portland isn’t too “up itself.” We wish there was a little more diversity, but hey—you can’t have everything.

Beaverton, in many ways, is Portland’s polar opposite—you can’t ride a fixie around, and there’s not much in the way of urban planning. Nor coffee shops. But writer and editor Matthew Stadler thinks Beaverton is the future: It’s 20 percent denser than Portland, it’s far more diverse [for every one new immigrant moving to Portland, five move to Beaverton]. And best of all, it doesn’t navel-gaze, thinking about what its “vision” for the future is, because it’s too busy evolving.

So my question for those disgruntled with Portland is: Why not move to Beaverton? There’s diversity there in spades (if you’ll excuse the unfortunate choice of words) and you might still be able to afford a house without being complicit in gentrification. Which, let’s face it, many of us increasingly like the economic effects of, but can’t bear to admit to ourselves.

Sadly, I think the answer is that while most of us don’t like Portland’s becoming increasingly monochromatic [okay, bleached] and self-satisfied, we can’t bear to think of ourselves making the jump to the “suburbs.” But if that’s the case, well then, the suburban mentality has up and moved to this city. And unless we want to end up feeling guilty as hell about staying here, then the cool kids are going to have to get out.

I hope I’ve made my point. Should anybody feel moved enough by my rhetoric to actually sell their three bedroom house in North Portland for what they paid for it in 2002 and head on out—well, then, good. Just be sure to give me a call before you stick it on the market and I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.

There’s a “new” Mingus album out, a recently-discovered recording from a 1964 show at Cornell. The Blue Note-released disc’s attributed to the “Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy,” the album’s entitled Cornell 1964, and here’s the group’s rambling rendition of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” which makes me happy.

Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy - “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”

The Score, from our sister paper The Stranger, has a solid piece on the album as a whole. Worth reading. Man, between Cornell and last year’s Mingus, it’s been a good time to be listening to jazz.

Also: I don’t know how this bit of incredible news has escaped me for so long, but did you know Mingus was able to toilet train cats? Well, he did. He even collected said advice in a publication:

Here’s an excerpt:

Don’t be surprised if you hear the toilet flush in the middle of the night. A cat can learn how to do it, spurred on by his instinct to cover up. His main thing is to cover up. If he hits the flush knob accidentally and sees that it cleans the bowl inside, he may remember and do it intentionally.

The whole amazing thing is also online. (I’m pretty sure I read a very similar story in Maxim years ago, but they did not acknowledge that jazz legend Mingus apparently pioneered this revolutionary training regimen.)

I don’t have a cat, but this kind of makes me want to get one. Having a normal cat? Eh. Having a cat who shits in the toilet? And even flushes? Such a thing would be nothing short of miraculous.

Fan of The Office? Then check out this funny promo clip of what The Office gang have been up to all summer. (My favorite? Michael’s experience watching Y Tu Mamá También.)
New episodes start Sept 27!

For those of you who believe Portland Police deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to complaints by the public (and I am one of those people, having spent the last year reporting on police oversight issues…) there’s a thought-provoking article on Blue Oregon this morning by Aaron Varhola and Alejandro Queral of the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center—about the fifth anniversary of “the now infamous attacks by the Portland Police on peaceful Americans exercising their right to free speech while protesting George W. Bush’s appearance at a Gordon Smith campaign fund-raiser in downtown Portland.”

Somebody mentioned to me the other day that folks like Queral are effectively working to be out of a job—if they achieve what they’re after, there will be no wrongs in the police bureau that need righting. It’s interesting because I, too, am in that position. If there weren’t any police oversight stories worth reporting, I’d either have to make them up (shut it…) or find another way to make a living. Personally I’d be happy to be out of a job, if I really were out of a job. No offense to my job, of course…

But with the city effectively being policed by private security guards who are unaccountable to the public, and with the mayor’s office being accused of making arbitrary political decisions about the police bureau, and reported beatings continuing in the City’s criminal justice system, I’d say my job’s safe for a while. Right, Steve? [….tumbleweed crosses the deserted plains….crickets chirp in the trees….somewhere in the distance, a dog barks….] Anyway, back to the BUSH PROTESTS:2002: That’s not very nice, officer…

I wasn’t here at the time, although the Mercury most certainly was. But Varhola and Queral’s description of what happened is vivid enough to make me wonder how different my impressions of the police bureau might be, if I had been:

In what came to be know as A22, Portland police, many clad in black riot gear, clubbed, pepper-sprayed and shot rubber bullets at nonviolent citizens exercising their Constitutional rights to free speech, much like Southern police officers used fire hoses, tear gas, and police dogs on peaceful marchers during the Civil Rights marches of the 1960s.

Among those caught in the police-induced melee included a TV camerawoman, a family of five who were attempting to leave the protest, as well as dozens of other peaceful protesters, many of whom didn’t know what was happening until they were doused with pepper spray. Three members of the Independent Police Review Division observing the police tactics also experienced the burn-in-the-eyes and confusion after they too were soaked with chemicals. The police’s ‘push and spray’ tactics were apparently intended to move the protestors away from the target of their protest.

The NWCRC was set up with $800,000 in civil settlements against the city resulting from the protests. Has the City done enough to overhaul its civilian oversight of the police bureau since then? I think it needs to go a lot further.

In this week’s feature on potential candidates waiting for Potter to decide on his future before they make plans, I quoted Chris Smith as saying, “I admire Tom’s integrity, and I campaigned for him for mayor. And I still think he was a far better choice than Jim [Francesconi]. But he’s not fit for this form of government.”

Unfortunately, one key letter was missing from that last sentence. It should have read, “But he’s not A fit for this form of government.”

As in he’s mismatched for the commissioner government, not unfit to serve in office. Apologies if my oversight gave anyone the wrong impression of Smith’s opinion of Potter.

Another Mercury music section to peruse while soliciting bathroom sex at the airport…

Hallelujah? Haley Lou Waaaah? Whatever, it’s Halleluwah, and this year’s festivities are definitely worth getting excited over.
MP3: Califone - Pink & Sour

Poor P.O.S., while other MCs spend their summers around the crib (or Mom’s basement), he slums it as the token rapper booked on the Warped Tour. Yikes.
MP3: P.O.S. - Music For Shoplifting

Don’t miss the gypsy caravan that is Gogol Bordello and frontman Eugene “Many girls want to be carnal with me… because I’m such a premium dancer” Hutz.
MP3: Gogol Bordello - Supertheory Of Supereverything

Jason Molina is a man of many band names, which is just a complete nightmare for nerds like me who alphabetize their record collections. Don’t even get me started on where to file records by this band.
MP3: Magnolia Electric Company - What’s Broken Becomes Better

He’s doing biceps curls in the news room, right now. 1001…1002…1003…MOORE: HE’LL DO ANYTHING YOU PUT ON THAT TELEPROMPTER…

Thanks to Kai at Met’blogs for taking the pic. It’s good to see the free booze had its desired effect on his opinion of a certain TV station…I especially like his encouraging other local stations to do something similar. I too would encourage other local businesses to “embrace the blogging community” by giving out other free products as well as booze—such as cars, homes, healthcare and prescription medication. Send all invites [which will be responded to on a “first to spend big bucks, first served” basis], here.

• MSNBC douchebag Tucker Carlson claims he assaulted a gay man for coming on to him in a bathroom. OOOOH! Did you use your big, mean, red bowtie, Tucker?

• Insulted that the Iraq Report criticizes the military’s performance, the Pentagon has asked that certain parts be revised (primarily the stuff that criticizes the military’s performance).

• Actor Viggo Mortensen describes Veep Dick Cheney as “very Nazi.” That must mean Secretary Mike Johanns of the Dept. of Agriculture is only “kinda Nazi.”

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney: “He May Not Be the Best, but He’s the Sweatiest.”

As noted in the comments to my post yesterday, about the unlikely—read: anti-gay—venue for Ira Glass’ October 7 Portland visit, Glass asked OPB to find a new spot.

Then, last night, the Oregonian ran a piece indicating that OPB was going to stick with New Hope Community Church. (LeLo in NoPo’s been watchdogging this issue, too.)

Tom Doggett, vice president for OPB television programming, confirmed Wednesday evening that Glass still is scheduled to speak at New Hope.

Doggett cited Oregon Public Broadcasting’s September Member Guide, which was mailed last week.

(The O also noted that the issue was raised by “Portland bloggers and others.” Ahem. It’s spelled M-E-R-C-U-R-Y, for further reference.)

What gives?

I just spoke with Glass’ agent, Steven Barclay:

“The quote that was in the Oregonian this morning is inaccurate,” he says. He had just spoken with OPB officials, who told him “we’re working on it. We just don’t know where yet.”

But the event will not happen at New Hope. “It’s not a place Ira wants to be associated with,” Barclay adds.

(Indeed, the Oregonian’s headline changed overnight, from “OPB stands by church choice for Ira Glass appearance” to “Venue for OPB event criticized”)

Barclay’s been getting a lot of emails from Portland folks upset over New Hope—he strongly hinted that those emails can cease (though he’s happy to respond to them all, and thinks “it’s good for people to be vocal about their beliefs”). He’s gay too, and he gets it, he says.

UPDATE! 9.50am, August 30: Metroblogs’ Dieselboi has posted photos from last night’s tour of the studios on Flickr.

ORIGINAL POST: Thanks to all you local bloggers who showed up to play Foursquare in our parking lot this afternoon, before heading off to Katu’s so-called “blogger meet-up.” You know who you are. No, really. You know who you are. Because there were only three of you. So especial thanks to Rich Sipe, Kyle Buttil and Met’blogs ever-loyal Dieselboi, who all get a link for their trouble, and lots of free beer. Plus, Rich showed me how to create a GIF image! BONUS! Check out Scott Moore touching his face with his hand after watching the ball sail on past…PARKING LOT FOURSQUARE: A WHOLE TON OF FUN…PARKING LOT FOURSQUARE SUPPORT SQUAD: A WHOLE TON OF SLACKING…

Next year, we’re gonna double, maybe even triple the attendance at this event. To NINE. Although perversely, I don’t think I’d enjoy it quite so much if people actually showed up. I should also mention that creating a gif image is about as satisfying as I imagine it must be to actually give birth to a real life, human child. Good day.

The FBI sat down today with a man shown being brutally beaten last September on video taken in the booking area of the Justice Center on SW 3rd, according to the beaten man’s mother.

40-year-old Michael Evans is shown in the jail video, being assaulted by Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputies, who are later joined by Portland Police Bureau officers. Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Hathaway, who can be seen in the video punching Evans four times with full force, bringing him to the ground, wrote in a report that he only hit him twice after Evans had hit him in the nose and refused to give finger-prints—events not evident in the video (“Summary Injustice,” News, Jul 19).

Evans also says his fingerprints were taken in a separate room away from the booking area where the beating took place, according to his mother. This slowed-down version of the confrontation between Evans and the jail deputies appears to corroborate Evans’ version of events—showing Hathaway taking the initiative:VIDEO:SLOW-MO-PO-PO-A-GO-GO…

Evans wrote to the FBI in July, claiming that his civil rights were violated during the beating, and that the District Attorney’s office may have tried to cover up the beating by beefing up the charges against him. The FBI refused to confirm or deny whether it was investigating Evans’ case at the time (“Fed Up,” News, Aug 2).

Now, Evans’ mother Anita says his civil attorneys, Benjamin Haile and Leah Greenwald, sat in on an interview by an FBI agent at the justice center at 1pm this afternoon. Evans’ criminal attorney was also present, she says.

“Michael’s attorneys told him the FBI has viewed the video and feel like there are grounds for further investigation,” says Mrs.Evans—who resides in Nevada.

“A complaint has been referred to our office and we are investigating,” says FBI spokesman Mike Sweeney. “But we cannot comment further at this time.”

Haile and Greenwald have declined comment, as have the District Attorney’s Office, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, and Portland Police, as the case is pending litigation.

Despite my music preferences being similar to “a sack of wet indie socks,” here is a little taste of the awesomeness that is the new High on Fire. The record is called Death Is This Communion, and it shall rise from the flames of hell and hit store shelves on September 18th.

MP3: High on Fire - Waste Of Tiamat

High on Fire performs at Dante’s on October 26th.

At noon today, protesters gathered in front of the Federal Building to protest the war on Iraq.

Sen. Ron Wyden is happy to hear your concerns about a little conflict in Iraq—but no more than five people at a time, please.

More after the jump.

The war on Iraq is an immense drain on the US's resources, yet members of Congress on both sides of the aisle still refuse to pull the troops out. Today's protest was the first of four Wednesday rallies where anti-war activists will try to pressure Portland congressmen into withdrawing funding for the Iraq war. In addition to the banners and the faux funeral procession, protesters were going to go meet with Sen. Wyden and try to persuade him to reverse his stance on Iraq war funding.

Wyden had no problem meeting with his constituents. He just had three teeny, tiny requests.

1. Only five people may come to his office. God forbid a Senator should have to listen to every one of his constituents.
2. No cameras or other recording equipment allowed.
It's easier to dodge responsibility when no one has evidence of promises-that-are-going-to-be-broken, after all.
3. No media can come along. No free, open and democratic government can remain democratic for long when the media gets involved. Gosh, how much better our government would be if the media had no chance to hold our politicians accountable!

A guard told an Indymedia reporter and me that we would be denied entry under Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations: Section 102, Subsection 74.420, Paragraph A, which states:

Sec. 102-74.420 What is the policy concerning photographs for news, advertising or commercial purposes?

Except where security regulations, rules, orders, or directives apply or a Federal court order or rule prohibits it, persons entering in or on Federal property may take photographs of--
(a) Space occupied by a tenant agency for non-commercial purposes only with the permission of the occupying agency concerned;

You'll notice nothing explicitly banning reporters in that paragraph. The section only prevents photographs and (presumably) video from being taken without prior consent. The two of us called up John Vickers, the property manager of the Federal Building, who agreed that there was nothing preventing us from joining the others. When I was about to have him tell the guards that, he backtracked and said that the guards could bar anyone they wanted from entering the building as long as they or another tenant felt like doing so. So, once again, laws are thrown out the window for the sake of making democracy stronger, safer, and freer.

This man, Dr. John Pearson of Physicians for Social Responsibility, was one of the lucky five that spoke with Sen. Wyden. He says Wyden told them he would refuse to not sign for Iraq war appropriations because it would cut money for troops and families. Which, as Pearson pointed out, doesn't make sense because those families would still be provided for under the usual defense budgets. (Feel free to correct me on this.)

"The issue," Pearson says,"is that he's not voting his conscience. He's voting the war."

I missed the detachment that went to Sen. Smith's office afterward, so if anyone has any info on that--leave a comment, please!

...

...

Oh, and one more thing:

THIS MAN IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Anyone that wanted to protest the war was welcome to come to today's event. Just because one protester endorses a questionable conspiracy theory does not mean that everyone else agrees with him.

Excited about the Okkervil River show next week? Hey, me too.

How about an MP3 to make you even more pumped up?

MP3: Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails (Demo Version)

This Stage Names b-side isn’t as dramatic as the original (and by that I mean their other version of the song, and also the Beach Boys tune from which it borrows a chorus), but it’s still worth a download.

Okkervil River performs at Berbati’s Pan on Saturday, August 8th.

Watching someone get tagged with a skateboard and howling in agony is funny…

But it’s even funnier in slow motion!

Ah, Portland development. Whether you shudder or applaud every time a new building, business, or tram appears on our city’s landscape, there’s no question that development is on the rise. One such project on the horizon is the bside6 building to go up on E Burnside and 6th, where for years there has been only an empty lot. Sponsor OFFICE PDX is co-sponsoring, along with the bside6 team, a preview party for the building, on October 9, at Rontoms. It will feature complimentary cocktails, giveaways from the OFFICE store, art/design guests such as PICA, and… a Q and A about the new mixed-use building, set to begin its 10-month construction in September, as well as a chance to see the renderings, meet the team, and hear the vision. The event is free and open to the public, but you need to rsvp with Lance Marrs: info@bside6.com

And, no, I’m not talking about plumbing. Well, kinda.

Courtesy of Slog is our good friend Dan Savage, editor of our sister paper The Stranger, being interviewed last night on CNN about Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s alleged attempted bathroom hookup.

For a hoot, check out Craig’s explanation of his guilty plea here. Cliff Notes version: It’s all the fault of the leftwing media.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the latest boutique to hit NE Alberta, IDOM (1600 NE Alberta). If you haven’t yet gone to check it out yourself, here’s a great excuse to plan on it: Tonight, from 7-10 pm, owner an in-house designer Modi Soondarotok is having her grand opening. Be sure to stop by and see the Parson’s School of Design graduate’s apparel (the line is also called IDOM, and will be featured in this year’s Portland Fashion Week), as well as handbags from Jenny Yuen and—as of very recently—my own beau Jesse Champlin’s Rush Accessories bags.

(One of my favorite pieces from IDOM)

More fashion on M.O.D.

Here at the Portland Mercury Laboratories™, we’re always working on super-secret stories for our super-secret upcoming issues. No, I can’t give you any more details. This shit’s super-secret, yo.

But I can tell you one thing: For an upcoming issue, we’re looking for anonymously-written stories from teachers, or professors, or teacher’s aides. Teachers who love kids, hate kids, or had a kid do something really gross in their classroom. Teachers who have funny stories, sad stories, or just want to vent about how much they despise that one red-headed kid who won’t stop picking his nose and flicking it into other kids’ hair. Etc.

SO: Are you a teacher? Do you know a teacher? Do you (or this teacher you know) have awesome stories that deserve to be shared? Or furious, bitter diatribes? Or snarky exposes on how stupid parents or other teachers or or teenagers or kids can be? (Let’s admit it. Kids can be stupid. A lot of the time.) If so, email me here, with the subject line “teachers’ stories.” Fame (sort of) awaits!

Remember when I said this morning that Sweatfree Campaign activists and Sam Adams were set to square off on the issue of letting industry representatives have a say in drafting the Sweatshop-Free Ordinance?

Turns out I was wrong. Surprising everyone in the packed council chamber, Adams said, in response to concerns from activists, that “suppliers will not be on the policy work group. They will be brought in often as ‘expert witnesses,’ but they won’t be voting members of the group.”

In case anyone missed that, he summed up: “The group that will be bringing the policy forward will not include any present or future suppliers.”

The trick now is to come up with a policy that is actually enforceable. Valerie Orth, the chair of San Francisco’s Sweatfree Procurement Advisory Group applauded Portland’s move toward a sweatfree policy, but admitted that no—as in, zero—contractors in the city of San Francisco have been able to 100 percent meet that city’s sweatfree ordinance, which was passed in 2005. Orth says that’s because the city itself doesn’t have the market power to change the fact that “sweatshops are the norm, not the exception,” when it comes to apparel and textiles.

Heidi Carlson from Foundation Garments (on NE Alberta) got some free advertising just for showing up to testify in favor of the resolution. Adams and Randy Leonard peppered her with questions about her location, hours, products, etc. “Why don’t you tell us more about your store?” Adams asked. The lady standing next to me in the back of the room scoffed and said, “He’s running for mayor, you know.”

Ultimately, the resolution passed 3-0, but the difficult work—crafting the policy—has yet to begin. Here’s a video clip of some of the testimony.

The next item on the agenda was a proposal to pay for a new instant replay video screen for the Winter Hawks—the team’s mascot was even there.

To give you some idea of how popular the hockey team is, one of the sweatfree activists told me, “I didn’t even know we had a team called the Winter Hawks.”

“Yeah, they play hockey at Memorial Coliseum,” I said.

“And, wait, they’re called the Seahawks?”

At any rate, Amanda Fritz took the council to task for considering the package before doing anything about the working conditions of the coliseum’s janitors, who make $8 per hour and get jerked around on hours and benefits. Adams responded that his office will be bringing something forward for the janitors in the coming months.

And further in the spirit of Labor Day, this evening council will hold a hearing on a proposal to require all city contractors to provide health benefits for their workers. The hearing is at 6pm at city hall.

Um, if you’re reading this, you are probably not in the middle of the desert with the thousands of other chemically enhanced revelers at this year’s annual Burning Man festival who paid hundreds of dollars for the opportunity to be fatally run over by an art car. In which case, you are probably as amused as I am at the news that the giant effigy of a man that is traditionally set afire at the end of the festival (thus the name), has already been burned.

Read the humorous details, as reported by the the San Francisco Chronicle here.

Yay! One of my fave sitcoms, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is returning for another heeeee-lariously inappropriate season on Sept. 13 on FX. And to wet your whistle (literally) here’s a promo clip for the show in which co-star Danny DeVito demands oral gratification in exchange for filming the third season. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
(And need I say it? NSFW!! Headphones on!)

Local bloggers, consider this your conch call:CONCH: Haven’t you read LORD OF THE FLIES?…

So Katu is hosting its local blogger meet-up tonight at their studios, at 6.30pm, which happen to be on NE 21st, right opposite our offices! And by way of shameless piggy-backing on top of other people’s promotional efforts good ol’ fashioned Mercury hospitality, our general manager has offered to stump up free beer and snacks for the most blogged-about game of Four Square EVER today, 5pm, in the Mercury’s parking lot at 605 Ne 21st. Classy bash, eh?!

All you have to do is show up, have a beer, play Four Square, and blog about the game afterwards, which despite promising to be incredibly competitive (because let’s face it, bloggers are…) I shall inevitably triumph over, having practiced my serve for weeks. Then you can drift on over to Katu, have some more free alcohol and throw up in their edit suite. Just kidding.

In exchange we’ll let you photograph the dumpster in our parking lot, behind-which the homeless guy sometimes sleeps. Like I said; CLASSY. See you later!

Mike Park, onetime Skankin’ Pickle (is that the first ska reference on this blog?) frontman and Asian Man Records founder, has recorded an ode to Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill.

Park’s song brings up an interesting debate—who was your favorite member of Bikini Kill? Kathleen Hanna? But what about the trainwreck that was the last Le Tigre record? Billy Karren, the mysterious guitar player? Kathi Wilcox? She landed the tall drink of water that is Guy Picciotto, so there’s something to be said for her as well.

MP3: Mike Park - Tobi Vail Is My Favorite Member of Bikini Kill!!!

In this week’s paper, I wrote about an odd, disconcerting situation (don’t wait for it to hit the streets, read it here):

Ira Glass, host of radio show This American Life—and darling of the clichéd “latte-sipping, Volvo-driving, NPR-listening” liberal set—plans to visit Portland in October to talk about his new book, The New Kings of Non-Fiction, and his radio and television series.

But the event—hosted by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)—is being held at an unlikely location, given Glass’ fan base. Fans plunking down $28 to see their public radio hero will be cramming into pews at New Hope Community Church, a megachurch in Clackamas, and one of the most actively anti-gay churches in the Portland area.

New Hope was a big donor to the Measure 36 campaign (to the tune of $8K, including money from the pastor), lobbied against this year’s domestic partnership and anti-discrimination bills, and is currently collecting signatures on Sundays to send those laws to a public vote. Since we went to press, a grassroots movement seems to have sprung up to speak out about the poor choice of venue.

Roey Thorpe—former executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, and now Director of Advocacy Services for the national group Equality Federation—checked in with OPB’s John Bell last week, laying out her concerns about the choice of venue, and asking OPB to reconsider.

I’m sure that [New Hope] will tell you that they welcome everyone, and certainly that if you are renting the space that everyone is welcome. They probably even have gay church members who are conflicted but love the church and the ministry. But this is not a place that welcomes all of us, and I’m sure that Ira Glass himself would not want to be in such a place if he knew about the political positions the congregation and its leaders have taken. He and his show are inclusive and affirming, not judgmental.

I know that a space that large is hard to come by. But I urge you to reconsider this choice of venue, certainly in the future but now as well. I’m a loyal OPB listener and member, and I hope that you will understand why I am so concerned.

Thank you,
Roey Thorpe

Bell replied, saying that “As a gay man, I understand and am sympathetic to your concerns,” but noted that New Hope is the only space available (which isn’t entirely true, though it may be the only 1500 seat venue available that night). Plus:

Were I to rule out using New Hope strictly because of their belief system, I would be as guilty as if I ruled out a gay friendly venue because someone else might complain.

Thorpe shot back:

I agree that it’s important to be inclusive, but in doing so, isn’t it important to insist that your venues themselves are inclusive? For instance, let’s take the extreme—you certainly wouldn’t use a venue that advocated white supremacy, right?

Their entire exchange is after the cut—Thorpe makes other excellent points (like “What I’m really saying here is that I’m sure you’d draw the line somewhere, so why are you drawing it in a place that allows use of a venue where people are actively and monetarily working to encourage discrimination?”). Bell didn’t reply, and Thorpe sent the exchange to a few dozen friends and encouraged them to contact OPB. “I feel terrible that OPB, a station I love and listen to frequently, would be so callous about this.”

Last night, the issue landed on LeLo in NoPo’s blog:

I love Ira Glass but I won’t be setting foot into a right wing conservative Christian church to see him—especially when it’s a fundraiser for OPB…

So what’s wrong with this picture? I love Oregon Public Broadcasting, and I love Ira Glass, but there’s no way I’m walking into a church that doesn’t accept me for who I am, and who works against me, to hear him. I just can’t do that. And Oregon Public Broadcasting? They evidently can do that no problem, and are paying a pretty penny for the use of the venue. Yep, they’re paying New Hope, a place that is actively and monetarily working to encourage discrimination, for the use of their venue for the wonderfully inclusive and pro-LGBT Ira Glass to speak.

Glass and I hadn’t fully connected before my piece went to print—he wanted to speak with OPB first. I got a note from him this morning that he hadn’t gotten in touch with Bell yet. Stay tuned.

Hello, Friends,

I’ve talked to some of you about this but I wanted to let others know about something that makes me so sad: OPB, our public radio station, is bringing Ira Glass to town and is hosting him at the New Hope Church. New Hope, especially their pastor Rev. Ray Cotton, were leaders in the pro-Measure 36 campaign. I haven’t looked through the records exhaustively, but I can tell you that they gave $5,000 to help get the measure on the ballot—a clear attack on lgbt rights, and I also know that the church made petitions available to be signed, Rev. Cotton preached from the pulpit to support the measure, and probably much more I don’t know.

When I heard the news I immediately emailed OPB, and what follows is the entire exchange I had with them. I encourage others to contact OPB, and if anyone knows how to get in touch with Ira Glass, please let me know—I’d be surprised if this was okay with him. Feel free to forward this email as you see fit. I feel terrible that OPB, a station I love and listen to frequently, would be so callous about this.

Take care and let me know what you think—

Roey

Dear Friends,

I was just listening to This American Life and I heard the news that Ira Glass was coming to Portland--this is exciting to me because I love the show and I heard him speak last year when he was in Portland. But then I heard that he is speaking at the New Hope Church and I felt so crushed, because I am not welcome in that church because I'm gay.

You may not be aware of it, but the New Hope Church played a major role in the Measure 36 campaign--they gathered hundreds of signatures and made major financial contributions to the campaign as a congregation. They consistently preached from the pulpit about the importance of "saving marriage," and they continue to support "ex-gay" ministries that attempt to change people from gay to straight.

I'm sure that they will tell you that they welcome everyone, and certainly that if you are renting the space that everyone is welcome. They probably even have gay church members who are conflicted but love the church and the ministry. But this is not a place that welcomes all of us, and I'm sure that Ira Glass himself would not want to be in such a place if he knew about the political positions the congregation and its leaders have taken. He and his show are inclusive and affirming, not judgmental.

I know that a space that large is hard to come by. But I urge you to reconsider this choice of venue, certainly in the future but now as well. I'm a loyal OPB listener and member, and I hope that you will understand why I am so concerned.

Thank you,
Roey Thorpe

Roey -
Thanks for emailing about the Ira Glass event. You're not alone in objecting to our choice of venue.
And as a gay man, I understand and am sympathetic to your concerns.

New Hope was not my first choice for a venue for a variety of reasons. However, it's the only space available for the date we need.

More importantly, part of the values of public broadcasting is to help create space where conflicting beliefs can respectfully coexist. Were I to rule out using New Hope strictly because of their belief system, I would be as guilty as if I ruled out a gay friendly venue because someone else might complain.

I do hope you'll reply.

Cordially,
J

John Bell
Associate Director of Membership
On-Air, On-Line and Event Fundraising
Oregon Public Broadcasting

Dear John,

Thanks for responding. I appreciate it, and I knew that there was no ill will intended by the choice of venue, but I wasn’t sure that you were aware of the potential problems.

So here’s my response to your argument about the guiding philosophy of public broadcasting—I agree that it’s important to be inclusive, but in doing so, isn’t it important to insist that your venues themselves are inclusive? For instance, let’s take the extreme—you certainly wouldn’t use a venue that advocated white supremacy, right? Whether it was from a religious perspective or not, that would be unacceptable and it wouldn’t fit with your philosophy of inclusiveness to have an event in a venue that supported discrimination against people based on their personal characteristics, right? Well, it hasn’t been that long since many churches opposed racial integration, civil rights, and interracial marriage on religious grounds. We have a short memory in this country when it comes to racism—we like to pretend that all of us knew racism was wrong the whole time, when that was certainly not the case. If you’re interested in more about this, I like the site http://www.faithinamerica.info/ as a campaign dedicated to pointing out that racism used to be justified and defended by the Bible and evangelicals.

What I’m really saying here is that I’m sure you’d draw the line somewhere, so why are you drawing it in a place that allows use of a venue where people are actively and monetarily working to encourage discrimination? I have nothing against evangelical faith, or Christians—that’s not the faith I practice, but I am fine living and letting live. But it is they who are taking that from religious faith to political action, who have brought ballot measure after ballot measure that attacks LGBT people for almost 20 years now. Inclusiveness doesn’t mean that you include everyone, even people who espouse and enact bigotry—we do get to have our own standards! I think if a venue took an active position against another group, even if that venue was gay-owned or gay friendly, you should not have events there.

That’s my two cents worth. On a personal level, I’m really sad about the choice of venue—I think Ira Glass is a great speaker and I loved his stories and perspective about his work the last time I heard him. I’m a pretty fearless and intrepid person, and there are very few places I wouldn’t go (I just got back from working with gay rights activists in Alabama, for instance). But this church is one place I absolutely wouldn’t set foot in—the thought makes me so angry that I don’t think I could even enjoy hearing one of my personal heroes. I hope you’ll think about your policy for the future, and that you’ll remember that making decisions that fall on the right side of history are often inconvenient and even painful, but that doing it makes a difference for many people, and at this moment, I’m one of them.

Take care,

Roey

Today is the kind of news day that would’ve worked William Randolph Hearst into a frenzy. He would’ve left puddles of frothy drool atop his desk as editors read off the day’s news. Let’s honor Hearst’s legacy of yellow journalism with some salacious headlines.

What’s first?

1. IDAHO SENATOR LIES HIS GODDAMN HEAD OFF TO SAVE HIS CAREER After this latest incident of “conservative Republican who opposes gay rights gets caught wanting random sexual favors from an undercover male police officer,” one begins to suspect that they should just run sting operations like this on all Conservative republicans. They could make a TV show out of it. (I can see it out now—“To Out a Hatemonger.” Chris Hansen will be sitting there in a harness and stirrups, begging for the clammy touch of some repressed reptile of a Congressman.) Sen. Craig’s plea that he “never [has] been gay” isn’t convincing fellow Republicans such as former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, who has taken great pains to let Craig know that he’s not “part of the club” anymore.

“Gay people scare me. I’m afraid if they touch my stuff they’ll spread their gay-itis and I’ll catch it. In the ass.”

2. SEVEN SOUTH KOREAN HOSTAGES STILL FACE IMMINENT DEATH The Taliban released a dozen South Korean hostages today. Seven more remain in the Taliban’s custody. (For those keeping count, that makes a total of 14 released, 2 dead, and 7 still in captivity.) In return for the releases, South Korea will pull their troops out of Afghanistan by the year’s end. This action will no doubt put the Taliban in a better position to take over more of Afghanistan. The resurgence of the Taliban, who had a weak foothold on Afghanistan after the initial invasion of American forces a few years back, can no doubt be attributed to moronic leadership.

3. SUDAN NEEDS YOUR MONEY The question is… what will your money help? Will it fund genocide? I know charity is always earmarked for one thing, but the reality is that the Darfur/Sudan conflict is still unresolved as of yet and money has a way of funneling elsewhere. Who knows—maybe the floods will unite the war-torn country? I’m curious to see how this plays out.

Well, I hope one of these stories starts a war. Good day!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, EVERYBODY RELAX! Beyonce is OKAY. According to our friends at The Onion, singing superstar Beyonce was almost nearly maybe injured by a stray bullet that was thankfully stopped by some random dude who got in the way. I think I speak on behalf of all global citizens when I say, “Thanks, random dude.”

Beyonce Unhurt After Stray Bullet Miraculously Hits Passerby Instead

At the start of this morning’s session, a three-person city council is set to hear and vote on a long-discussed Sweatfree Resolution. The policy has been in the works for at least a year, with sweatfree activists and Sam Adams’ office frequently having a hard time agreeing on many of its details.

Last week, after the hearing date had been set, both sides were able to come to a compromise…for now. Instead of coming forward with a final ordinance, which would become law, Adams is presenting a resolution that states the intent of the city—to not buy products made in sweatshops—creates a policy work group that will actually craft the law, and will require suppliers to reveal factory names and locations to the city.

That’s all well and good, but there’s a brewing controversy, bound to come to a head at this morning’s session, over who should be on that policy work group and an oversight committee that will be formed later. The Sweatfree Coalition is concerned that suppliers or other representatives of the textile, apparel, or footwear industries could end up overseeing a policy that impacts them. (Word on the street was that Adams originally wanted to put someone from Nike on the policy work group, which just sounds like a PR nightmare, but that idea has apparently been shelved.)

The resolution does state that anyone who is on the oversight committee has to voluntarily “avoid bidding on city contracts overseen by the Committee during their term of service,” but Deborah Schwartz of the Sweatfree Coalition doesn’t think that goes far enough—should someone be able to bid for a contract a day or a week after they leave the committee?

There’s sure to be some fireworks—the coalition has even flown in some former sweatshop workers to testify—which I’ll have updates on later.

Jesus Christ. The always completely accurate blog, What Would Tyler Durden Do? is reporting that the two adopted kids of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have been spending their summer at a camp here in Portland [UPDATE: Scott Moore points out that the camp is, in fact, NEAR Portland, but not IN it. Just so that’s clear. I’d hate for you to get over-excited, and it is Scott’s job, he says, to “rain on everyone’s parade,” after all.], designed to indoctrinate the kids into Scientology. From Star Magazine:

So where have the Cruise kids been all summer? Star has learned that the youngsters are in Oregon, at a camp 60 miles south of Portland run by the Church of Scientology! “The summer camp is part of the Scientology’s ‘get them while they’re young’ campaign,” a source who attended the camp tells Star. “While they will be enjoying horseback riding, swimming and all kinds of fun activities, some of their day is devoted to Scientology coursework.”

So: Where is this camp? Why didn’t we bloody know about it already? Let’s kidnap the Cruisettes! Etcetera.

Make of it what you will, but VICE Magazine is sponsoring a big rip of our fabulously successful Bikes vs. Cars Debate. It’s actually a kick-off for the Bicycle Film Festival, which is rolling through town next week, and which we’ll have more on in next week’s issue.

Here are the few details on VICE’s debate, which I can guarantee will not be as great or insightful as ours and the Bus Project’s was:

SEPTEMBER 6 | THURSDAY

BIKES ROCK | 8:30 PM - 2:30 AM

HOLOCENE
1001 SE Morrison St.

DEBATE: BIKES OR CARS?
VICE Magazine and Dewar’s host the fifth installment of the Dewar’s Debate series.
Come watch as we set the clock running on two masters of argumentation as they tackle the century-old dilemma: BIKES or CARS?
Debate at 8:30 sharp.

Complimentary cocktails provided by Dewar’s during debate.

Followed by
Music by TBA till late night.

Ok, ok. Ours didn’t have free Dewar’s cocktails, nor was there really music by anybody till late night (unless you count the rontom’s bartenders’ iPods). But still.

Head over to the film fest’s internet website homepage for the full schedule of events.

Our town’s sweetest folk singer, Laura Gibson, swung on by the Daytrotter compound for a lovely recording session, all of which is available for you to download.

My personal favorite song from the bunch is the previously unreleased “Come by Storm.” Take a listen:

MP3: Laura Gibson - Come by Storm

El Perro Del Mar’s fantastic CD has been out for well over a year now, but she’s just released a video for “Party,” which makes me remember how much I loved this album int he first place.

“Sometimes it’s good to take a day off, if you’ve been hittin’ it too hard. Know what I mean?”

—-Matt Davis

Yes, Matt. I do know what you mean. And thanks for helping me fill my daily blog quota.

Does Jennifer Aniston even count as an actress/movie star anymore? Methinks not. But nevertheless, it looks like her next film, Management, will be shooting in Portland. (According to the following press release, it’s her next film, anyway. IMDB.com doesn’t have a mention of Aniston starring in the film at all.) Reportedly, Steve Zahn is costarring, and apparently, the casting folks have had no luck in casting a couple of roles. So: DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

We need two senior Chinese actors to play the