In four parts, to conform to YouTube rules, here’s video of today’s arrests, as filmed by Patrick Nolen.

Part 1 is the first two people arrested. Part 2 is organizer Arthur Rios Sr. sitting down to volunteer for arrest, and then organizer Larry Reynolds’ arrest. Part 3 is Rios and three others’ arrest. Part 4 is one protester discussing what’s been going on in the past day, with an officer—he’s trying to figure out the logic of where he can and cannot be on the sidewalk. (The arrestees are reportedly all out of jail by now.)

The rest are after the cut. Apologies for the pixelated quality… the files were massive, and I had to slash them.

White Bird’s “4x4: The Ballet Project”—which ran Thursday and Friday—offered a unique opportunity to see how our home team, Oregon Ballet Theatre, stood against three other West Coast ballet companies from San Francisco, Seattle, and Eugene. Each company performed one piece, and each piece was a Portland premier, in fact, aside from OBT, none of the companies has performed in Portland in the past ten years.

Opening the evening was Eugene Ballet’s “Still Falls the Rain,” a modern ballet in which the ten dancers, clad in metallic yoga-like costumes, performed stylized, ritualistic movements against a futuristic, new age-y backdrop. Telling a story of love in a climate of religious intolerance (the opening bowing postures seem to point Middle-Eastward) I first thought the performance was only mildly interesting until the two stars, Jennifer Martin and Leoannis Pupo-Phyllis broke away from the group. Their pas de deux is sizzling hot, and not anything I expected to see. These two have a palpable chemistry together, as much “dirty dancing” as ballet. Together, they create a powerful emotional force in the juxtaposition between human and religious passion.
After the Eugene Ballet was Oregon Ballet Theatre’s “Rush.” Frankly, I was unmoved. The costumes were hideous, and the music often had little to do with the action onstage. At one point, dramatic minor chords hammer down as not a villain, but two girls merrily prance on stage. The dancing was okay, classical and a bit boring. There was one moment, where a dancer leaps off a man’s chest that was surprising and impressive, but the predictable manner in which this move was repeated made it almost tired.

“Concerto Grosso,” San Francisco Ballet’s contribution, was the real pleaser of the night. I’ll admit that, having never seen the San Francisco ballet, when the curtain rose I was quick to dismiss. Against a dramatic orange sky, the silhouettes of the five male performers was, at first impression, overly dramatic, and when the stage lights revealed that the San Francisco Ballet had sent us an all male cast in rainbow tights to dance, my first thought was, “Are you kidding me?” I was very wrong. These guys kick ass.
The five performers each had their own color, and their own mood in which they danced, but the two clear stars were Pascal Molat and Hansuke Yamamoto. Pascal’s effortless leaps were astounding. The man gets air. Air as in, they should make an “Air Molat” Pointe shoe (preferably with a little pump thing on the front). You could hear the audience gasp as Pascal joyously executed his leaps and twirls. Also earning gasps was Hansuke with his dizzying aerial turns that toyed with balance and gravity. I have never been so impressed with classical dance, and when they took their bows, competition or not, it was clear that a gauntlet had been thrown down.

It was in the wake of this physical showmanship that Pacific Northwest Ballet presented “Shindig.” A compilation of short comedic pieces, “Shindig” focused less on showing off physical prowess, and more on light hearted Rom-Com scripting that played well against the classical score. Had it not arrived after San Francisco Ballet’s piece, I probably would have thought much better of the performance, but after seeing such skill I wanted more than silly costumes and tongue-in-cheek. One exception to the show was Carrie Imler’s final solo piece, which showcased a bold and radiant dancer who isn’t afraid to have fun with her form, and a tasteful, clever use of lighting and music.
“4x4” was the first time all four companies appeared together on the same stage, and it served as a valuable comparison of where the four companies are at right now, stylistically and talent-wise. It would be wonderful to get this opportunity again in the future (hint hint), without having to travel…

In the last hour, chaos erupted at the homeless protest. Just as I was about to leave—the rumored cops hadn’t shown up—Central Precinct Commander Mike Reese and three other officers (and a woman several people referred to as a city attorney, but I don’t know if that’s true or not) strode up from the police station. They walked the length of the sidewalk in front of city hall, where people were standing with their arms locked in solidarity. The cops ignored them.

Around the corner, on Jefferson, the police stopped to talk to several people who were along the curb near a Trimet bus stop. The officers told those protesters that they needed to move—according to Reese, Trimet bus drivers had called the police to report that protesters were sticking their legs out into the street, and drivers were worried they’d injure someone when they were pulling the bus up to the stop (later, I overheard one protester having a battle of logic with one cop, pointing out that he’d rather be on the city hall side of the sidewalk, and away from traffic, but that the police had pushed people to the curb side, which they were now declaring was unsafe).

The cops gave people five minutes to clear their belongings from near the bus stop. Protesters did what they do best: Protested. Some quoted the constitution, others argued that the city needed to provide housing. One man sat against the wall of city hall, and the cops told him to move or face arrest. He volunteered for arrest. The cops arrested him (nicely, I might add—it was a civil disobedience arrest if I ever saw one).

Not long after he was arrested, a second protester sat in city hall’s window sill. He, too, was voluntarily arrested.

As the cops returned their attention to clearing out the protesters’ belongings—and telling people they could protest on the other three sides of the building—protest organizer Arthur Rios Sr, his ID in hand, planted himself down on the window sill. Three other protesters joined him, including two young men—one 18, the other 20, who said they’d been on the street since they’d been 10 and 13, respectively. The four awaited arrest, as their friends (and Rios’ daughter) kept approaching to shake their hands, give them kisses, and take their belongings for safekeeping.

All four were arrested, on charges of interfering with a police (not for illegal camping or violating the sit-lie ordinance, mind you…), the same as the first two. Meanwhile, protest organizer Larry Reynolds apparently tried to walk through the crowd (including a few officers) and was arrested. I missed the interaction that kicked it off—I was later told that he was asked to move, and didn’t—but it was the singular struggle between officers and a protester. He was arrested for resisting arrest. Frankly, he looked bewildered. The crowd was angry, shouting “Larry’s being arrested!” in disbelief.

Once all seven were arrested (backup officers in police cars had arrived by now), Reese gave his officers the order to clear out. They circled the rest of the block, then headed back to the central precinct. Meanwhile, the remaining protesters kept their arms locked, and kept shouting “homes not jails!”

I’m at city hall, checking in on the homeless protest following this morning’s statement from Mayor Tom Potter.

When I arrived a few minutes ago, I saw this:

The protesters have been pushed to the curb side of the sidewalk. And these signs have been posted along the balustrade, where the protesters had been set up:

That notice indicates that this protest has been declared an illegal campground, which will be “removed on May 13th 2008.” No one is quite sure what this means, but the police have told them to move to the curb side, and to stay within two feet of their personal belongings. (The cops have been by three times this morning, says one protester.)

“What they’re saying right now is that you can’t be two feet away from your stuff. That means you can’t go to the bathroom without your stuff, you can’t go to a job interview without your stuff. You can’t go to a restaurant without your stuff,” says Duane Reynolds, who’s been homeless for “25 years off and on.” He continues: “So mainly, you cannot do anything with carrying your stuff wherever you go. You cannot step five feet away from your stuff. That means you’re stuck on the street, because most places won’t let you bring in your stuff.”

The protesters have complied, and there’s a rumor circulating that the cops will be back any minute to confiscate unclaimed belongings—i.e., the stuff that hasn’t been moved to the curb side, and isn’t within two feet of an owner.

Larry Reynolds, one of the protesters’ main organizers, talked to me about it. Listen to him here.

It’s very unclear what might happen on Tuesday night, given that protesters have already been moved—”harassed,” as Reynolds put it—and are under new rules. Will the police, under the mayor’s orders, clear it out entirely? Potter’s public policy adviser Maria Rubio already answered our “will there be a sweep that night” question with a non-answer, saying the city hopes the protesters “keep things orderly and safe for everyone.” From what I see, this sidewalk is orderly, and—given how many people are here, looking out for each other—about the safest one in the city at the moment.

One last thing. City Hall is supposed to serve as a 24-hour restroom until other facilities are built—Potter’s idea, originally. Apparently that’s 24-hours, unless there’s a protest happening outside on a Saturday that Potter isn’t too happy about, because this sign went up:

This morning, Mayor Potter dropped a new statement on the ongoing homeless protest outside of city hall.

He re-iterates what the city has been doing in response: “102 shelter beds have been opened (as of 8:30 p.m. on May 9); representatives of the protest group were invited to the Mayor’s Office to state their concerns and to participate on the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness Advisory Board; service providers offered outreach services to those with special needs and discussions on how police enforce the camping ordinance are occurring.”

Then he gets into the nitty gritty—the fact that the protest has morphed from a dozen people at the beginning into a large camp stretching halfway around the block city hall sits on isn’t lost on anyone, including Potter. And it sounds like Potter’s ready to crack down a little harder, saying “the City has the right to make reasonable time, place and manner rules for the conduct of protests in public spaces, and can also act to protect the public from unnecessary obstructions as well as health, sanitation and safety problems.”

“The amount of clutter has greatly affected the ability of the public to use the sidewalk. I also have an increasing concern about the safety of both the protestors and the general public. There have been incidents of illegal activity, numerous calls for police and medical assistance, and sanitation concerns inside and outside the building.”

So what happens next? Read on.

Due to these increasing congestion, obstruction and public safety concerns - and with the opening of an additional 102 shelter beds through May and June by the Salvation Army - starting today, the protestors will be asked to respect the City law that forbids the erection of structures on sidewalks. This is a law that is regularly enforced in all other protest situations.

In addition, the City will post a warning that enforcement of the City law against camping in public spaces could occur after the end of day on Tuesday, May 13. In conjunction with the warning, the City will connect protestors and homeless individuals with service providers who can help them find shelter or other places to go.

That last part sounds to me like a warning that the city is going to impose much stricter limits on the protest, starting Tuesday night. Maybe people can protest, but not camp—so perhaps that means they can't lie down and sleep? I asked the Mayor's public safety policy adviser Marie Rubio for clarification, and whether this is hinting at an impending "sweep."

She responds:

This is an effort to reduce the amount of items that are accumulating as people camp outside city hall and the attending health and public safety issues that have been developing as the crowd grows. We trust that protestors will comply with the city's request to keep things orderly and safe for everyone.

We hope that people will take advantage of the 102 available shelter beds.

We'll keep you posted.

“We are going to bring this election to a close right here in Oregon,” Barack Obama told a huge crowd on the quadrangle at the University of Oregon last night. It was an echo of something that one of his senior advisers told The Politico just a few days ago, and a signal that the party in Oregon on primary night, May 20, is going to be about a lot more than just another state in this long nomination process.

The most interesting part of Obama’s speech, I thought, came toward the end. After a lot of lines that I’d heard before, Obama segued into a new re-introduction of himself (or a newish re-introduction; he first rolled out this new section of his stump speech after his win in North Carolina on Tuesday).

Obama was candid about why he’s added these new lines:

I do want to just end by telling you about myself because it appears that the Republicans are intent on making this campaign about me—whether I wear a flag pin, my bowling score, my eating habits, the offensive remarks of a former pastor—that’s what they want to make this campaign about.

And so I want to just close by reminding you of why I do this, and a little bit about myself. I was born to a teenage mother. And my father left when I was two, so I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. And they came from small towns in Kansas. They grew up during the Great Depression. And they didn’t have much of anything. And when World War II started my grandfather joined the army, and went to Europe and fought in Patton’s army, and my grandmother stayed back working on a bomber assembly line while she also looked after the new baby they had had…

You can see where this is going. This is an American story, a white story (in that it only explores the white side of Obama’s family tree), the most America-centric re-telling of Obama’s family history that he’s done to this date.

…And when my grandfather came back, his government, the United States government, said, ‘You know, it makes sense for us to invest in young men like this who fought for us. And make sure that not only are we allowing them to succeed but also that we’re creating a middle class that will lift up the whole country. And so he was able to get a college education on a GI Bill.

And then that same government said, ‘You know what, it’d be smart if we could set up a loan program so that young families like theirs, they can buy a home, because that will be good for everybody, it’ll lift up the whole country.’ And so they bought their home with the help of a VHA loan. And then, when my mother got older, she was able to get a college scholarship even though they weren’t wealthy. And even though I was being raised by a single mom, and even though we sometimes had to be on food stamps to make ends meet, she was ultimately able to send my sister and me to the best schools in the world.

Message: Obama is also the grateful product of well-meaning investments made by his country decades ago. He then told of his wife’s similar story, and then he said:

Here’s the thing. When people ask me about my patriotism, when they ask me why I’m doing this, I try to explain to them, I’m doing it because that story’s not just my story, it’s your story. It’s the American story. It’s that idea that each generation successively is able to work a little bit harder, work a little bit better, to make life better for the next generation and the government is a partner in this process.

The crowd was exploding with cheers by this point.

That’s why I love this country. That’s why you love this country. Because if you really try you can make it in this country, and that’s the American dream that we are gonna preserve for the next generation. But I need your help doing it. And so, let me just end by saying this, Oregon: You can make that choice. But I’m gonna need you to vote for me, and if you do we will win this nomination, we will win this general election, and you and I together will change this country, and we will change the world. Thank you, everybody, God Bless you and God Bless America.

Will this new telling of Obama’s story reach people like the Obama skeptics I met in rural Jackson County on Thursday? Or the guy I met on the plane down to Oregon? We’ll see.

For now, I’m heading back up to Seattle to start (er, keep on) writing. For my full take on the Democratic end game in Oregon see next week’s Merc. And for all the posts in this series click here.

(UPDATE @ 8:35 pm on Sunday: Hansen has not only pulled that post—which, as the Oregonian reported, she replaced with a post about striving to be more “Tom-like”—but has pulled every post. Apparently being more “Tom-like” means not blogging, which is apropos. But good thing for Google. Here’s a cache of the post.)

Did you know Mayor Tom Potter’s wife, Karin Hansen, has a blog? (Either that, or she’s got a sock puppet more talented than any I’ve ever seen.) From her profile: “It can be tough for an opinionated person like myself to be the wife of an elected official. I get so frustrated sometimes. I have my own ideas, but they are often minimized. People, knowingly or not, take away my power when they make comments, such as: ‘Of course, she would say that. She’s Potter’s wife.’ or ‘If she’s endorsing Dozono, Potter must be.’” (Which means she’s going to hate the title of this blog post.)

This afternoon, Hansen posted about the goings on at city hall. This is even better than the time she listed Potter’s “accomplishments” on BlueOregon a few weeks ago.

Background: As you could probably tell from my post on Wednesday, Commissioners Sam Adams and Randy Leonard aren’t too happy with Potter’s proposed budget (which basically denied funding to any of Adams’ projects, and a key one of Leonard’s). The two have been working on an alternative budget, and Dan Saltzman is the third vote—Saltzman can vote for Potter’s budget, but then it’s 2-2 and the city doesn’t have a budget… or he can get more of his stuff funded via the Adams-Leonard alternative proposal, and the city gets to carry on… we’ll see which way he goes!

The budget is supposed to be up for a vote on Wednesday. I had some calls in this afternoon to see where things were at. The “alternative” budget, last I heard, is going to include more arts funding, more transportation funding, a shift in money to actually fund Leonard’s recently passed legislation to move the PDC’s attorneys under the city attorney’s authority (not including that in his own budget was Potter’s first mistake—NEVER cross Randy), plus “some things for Dan,” according to a city hall staffer I spoke with earlier this week.

It’s a pragmatic and politically smart way for Adams and Leonard to see that their priorities get funding. Hansen sees it quite differently. Calling it a “Character Assassination in Progress,” she says “The evil doers are hard at work at City Hall. They are trying to erase all the good work of Tom Potter’s administration.”

I want to quote the entire dang thing—it’s that juicy and over the top. Oh, what the hell, let’s do it.

They are working on ending funding for on-going projects, such as the Office of Youth and Gang Violence Prevention, the newly created Human Rights Commission; while chipping away at Tom’s supporters. They have yanked Dan Saltzman to the darkside for their third vote to override “the Mayor’s Budget” With an “Alternative Budget.” They have swayed PDC chair, Mark Rosenbaum to their side for the deconstruction of PDC. They have pulled in Charles McGee of BPI with money promises. They tried to get to a large group of Black Portlanders to turn against the mayor via Willie Brown, but he didn’t take the bait. And, someone is secretly supplying the homeless protesting at City Hall with sustenance…I believe that is them also.

This is a pretty nasty list. It almost sounds paranoid, but, really, it is just finally putting the pieces together…and, those are just the pieces that I have found. Where are others still lurking?

….all this just to get even with a person they don’t like. Is that your Portland? It’s not mine.

I am sick of these disgusting power plays that put winning and egos over what is best for Portland.

If we elect Sam Adams as our next mayor, this will be business as usual for Portland’s future, folks.

Vote for Sho Dozono for mayor, because he would actually put Portland first.
In protest, write in Tom Potter for Randy Leonard’s spot.

Emphasis hers.

How can this possibly get better? Randy Leonard found it (and sent it to me and a couple other reporters tonight), and has responded in the comments to her post. That’s after the cut.

Randy responds:

Karin- It is neither a conspiracy nor disrespectful to disagree with Tom's proposed budget. In fact, it is quite normal for elected officials to have differing views on funding priorities. I am surprised you do not view my wanting to fund items different from what Tom may want funded (such as giving the workers at Central City Concern a cost of living wage raise) as a part of the job I and the others on council were elected to do...not just be a rubber stamp for Tom.

I would have hoped you could see the benefit of having more than one view how best to fund essential city services as a strength of our city, not some evidence of a conspiracy or strategy to do Tom ill.

I'm off to read Hansen's archives...

UPDATE! Good thing there are only ten entries, or I'd be up all night. The blog apparently kicked off after she posted Potter's "accomplishments" to BlueOregon, and was essentially laughed off that thread. She writes "Instead of being intimidated out of posting on the blogs of others, here I am with my own blog." Right on.

Then:

One of the reasons that I am so frustrated all of the time is because a Do-Nothing Portland City Council of Mean White Boys, in alliance with the Portland media, have successfully painted a productive, inclusive and amazing mayor as a "Do-Nothing Mayor." I am angered by this.

Emphasis mine.

Admittedly, I’m an embarrassingly huge Star Wars nerd. But that said, I find myself weirdly apathetic about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which hits theaters this August. And I’m not one of the people who’s too cool for new Star Wars, either—I’m one of the many who loves the old ones, but I’m also one of the very, very few who liked the prequels, too (especially the third one). So if my math’s right, I’m exactly the sort of dweeb that George Lucas is courting with The Clone Wars, a film that wisely ditched its working title, George Lucas’ Latest Attempt at Making a Movie Without Any Actors Whatsoever.

But I don’t know—whether it’s the characters’ creepy marionette looks, the unoriginal concept (Genndy Tartakovsky already did this, right?), or the fact this is just a glorified TV pilot (the movie is a lead-in for an animated series starting this fall), I’m just not really feeling this one. I mean, I’ll see it—of course I’ll see it—but on my summer movie radar? Pretty low priority.

All that whining aside, goddamn, the colors in this are gorgeous, yeah? So at least there’s that. Crappy YouTube below (the best one I could find was subtitled en Français, which totally makes the trailer feel all cultured and shit); pretty HD version here.

On the radio tonight—OPB, in between damn pledge drive bits—I heard two political pundits declare the Democratic nomination over. According to those two (whose names, unfortunately, I did not catch), all that’s left is for Clinton to realize it and bow out gracefully (i.e., Obama can’t be a jerk and suggest she not let the door smack her on the way out).

But… we still get to pick between the two in Oregon! Maybe you’ve already voted, maybe you’re still deciding, maybe you just haven’t filled in the ballot yet. Regardless, tell us what you did or plan to do.

WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR?

Poll closes Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm.

Answer, as if you couldn’t guess:

More tomorrow, related posts here.

Man, who doesn’t appreciate a good cat wall? Anyone who has ever visited the Mercury offices knows that the first thing that greets you at the reception desk is a magnificent cat wall. One of our readers, Cory, wrote me to say that he stayed up all night finishing his cat wall—just for Cat Friday!!!! Cory officially rules. Behold:

Cat Friday: Inspiring wise decorating decisions all over town.

Thanks Cory!!!!

In the race for city commissioner position #2, Nick Fish got the Portland Business Alliance’s endorsement. (Jim Middaugh has told us the PBA’s board asked him, in his interview, why he’s been “picking on them” by being critical over things like rent-a-cops.)

This just in, via the PBA: They’re stumping for Fish, and asking people to open the checkbooks. I’ve been analyzing Fish’s donors, and I’ll put that info up shortly. In the meantime, here’s the PBA’s letter:

From: Bernie Bottomly [mailto:bbottomly@portlandalliance.com] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 8:18 PM Subject: Nick Fish Request

Dear Alliance Member:

Nick Fish, the Alliance endorsed candidate for city council, running for the seat vacated by Commissioner Erik Sten, is seeking to raise $25,000 in the next three weeks to fully implement his campaign plan. He is currently on television and has a mailer ready to drop, but is looking for funds to implement a call down to seniors, do another mailing, and purchase newspaper ads. Nick’s intention is to win this election in May.

Nick, in addition to being endorsed by the Alliance, has received a contribution from the Alliance PAC. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

You can contribute on line at http://www.nickfish2008.com/donate
That link will also allow you to print a donation form if you’d rather contribute by mail.

Thanks,

Chris Mongrain
Chair, Government Relations Committee
Bernie Bottomly | Vice President, Government Relations & Economic Development

This afternoon at the City Club Friday Forum, the candidates for city council position #1 participated in an incredibly subdued forum. The six introduced themselves, fielded questions on things like “how much do you care about East Portland,” and “what do you think of the Mayor’s proposed budget,” then got a chance to ask each other questions. And that, my friends, is when things got interesting.

Charles Lewis prefaced his query by saying “I regret that we’re within striking distance, because I’m got quite a question.”

Holding a copy of Fritz’ latest mailer—which takes aim at city outsourcing, and city money being spent outside of Portland, like a $4 million contract for computer maintenance—Lewis asks Fritz:

“It turns out the brochure was actually printed in Eugene. $56,000 of printing in Eugene, In addition there was another $54,000 that was spent outside of Portland as well, for a total of about $110,000 that was spent outside the city of Portland,” Lewis said, asking Fritz what she had to say about it.

“I am not surprised that you asked it, Charles,” she said. “The first choice was to be buying in Portland with Portland businesses, union businesses, and I could certainly go into details of why the other choices were made. And that strategy was indeed implemented. The top consultants in Portland, we met with them, and they were not available. And so, I’m in this campaign to win, and we went with their recommendations of who to work with.” (She may have been referring to TGF Productions, whom she paid $39,500 for advertising; The check’s record in ORESTAR lists a Portland address, but when I pull up that address in Google maps, it comes up in Lake Oswego.)

She listed businesses like Hollywood Impress, a local company she has worked with. And she turned the attention back to “those big picture things” the city pays for with its $3 billion budget.

Lewis was allowed to rebut, and rebut he did, pointing out that Fritz had only spent “a few hundred” with Hollywood Impress, while spending $110,000 of her $150,000 in public funds outside of Portland. “This is publicly financed money,” he said. “I really believe the money should have stayed here, especially if that’s going to be a major platform of someone’s campaign.”

But forget what I’m writing about it. Listen to the short exchange yourself.

Hullo and greetings, fellow Earthlings! It’s the Mercury’s resident astronomist here, to let you know that TOMORROW, Saturday, May 10th is National Astronomy Day!

According to my fellow astronomists over at Astronomy.com, National Astronomy Day “gives astronomy-lovers a chance to share their passion with the astronomy-curious.” So, allow me (i.e. astronomy-lover) share my passion with you!

For example, did you know that there are over a million stars in the universe! A million! In fact, there are so many, not even I--the most learned of astronomists--know exactly how many! The universe is so infinite that no one has ever seen the end of it.

(Can you imagine that? Something so big that no one knows its precise dimensions? I know, it sounds like complete hogwash, but I assure you it is true!)

Also, did you know that no one knows for certain if there is life on other planets? Yes, there have been numerous reports of alien abductions, but these have been dismissed by the scientific community as "unsubstantiated."

Let me give you an example. In 1998 I was standing in a large open field outside Aloha, OR. A brightly-lit ship descended, looking like that light-up Simon memory game. A group of "visitors" (incidentally, all of whom looked like Mr. Clean but had mohawks and pig noses) took me aboard and repeatedly performed "experiments" and "probes." One of the mohawk'ed Mr. Cleans (whose name was Raoul) even asked me if I would be his intergalactic bride! Of course I accepted, but the other ones caught wind of our fleeting romance and deposited me back to Earth.

Now, imagine my excitement when I dashed to tell the scientists about my remarkable discovery! Finally, proof that we are not alone in the universe! But they laughed, referring to my experience as "crazy talk," and "ramblings of a fruit loop," and "a pathetic cry for help."

So, not even a first-hand experience from a learned, experienced astronomist such as myself--and not even the fact that my beloved Raoul came to visit me numerous times since our initial encounter--can be considered definitive proof of life on other planets. Ah, the mystery of space!

Meanwhile, if you're astronomy-curious, and would like to hear more interstellar adventures from astronomists such as myself, that's what Astronomy Day is for! Find your local lover of astronomy and have him or her sit right down and tell you all about it! They may even let you look through their telescope. I personally shall be sharing stories, giving out Crab Nebulae (just kidding! they're only cookies made to look like Crab Nebulae, haha!), and letting people peer through my tube behind the Greyhound Bus Station from 1am-4am. Happy Astronomy Day, everybody!

Undergrad pastoral at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where Barack Obama will be holding a rally later on this evening.

Here’s Joseph Links, 21, a sophomore studying journalism, relaxing in the grass on the university qaudrangle:

I told him about my experiences talking to Hillary Clinton supporters in Jackson County yesterday—the concern about the flag pin, the pastor, the secret Muslim thing—and asked Links if he thought rural white voters would be a problem for Obama.

“I think it might be hard for him to get the rural vote just because of education in certain areas,” Links said. “But that’s just part of campaigning.”

Does Obama, as Clinton has suggested, have a problem with white voters?

“No, because my dad’s white and he’s middle class and he’s voting for Obama.”

Next to Links was Erika Unruh, 20, a sophomore studying education. She told me her Republican grandmother in Happy Valley, Oregon, is voting for Obama. “She thinks he has a fresh look,” Unruh said.

Does Obama have a problem with white voters?

“I really don’t think it’s going to be that much of an issue… I would like to think we’ve moved beyond that.”

Next, Kelsey Schopp, 20, a sophomore in International Studies. I asked her about Clinton’s recent contention that she’s more viable, in part, because she does better than Obama among “hard working Americans, white Americans.”

“I’ve heard that,” Schopp said. “But she definitely doesn’t have the young vote. Everyone I talk to our age is into Obama.”

So next Tuesday, a brand spankin’ new box set of Indiana Jones DVDs comes out—one that includes all three of the original films, new bonus features, and the most boring cover art humanly imaginable! (All the details are here.) We’ll have a review of the box set next week, but in the meantime, we’ve got an extra set to give away to one lucky Blogtown reader.

Only catch is, I want to make sure these discs go to someone who’ll really, really appreciate ‘em—a true blue, die hard, all-or-nothing Indiana Jones fan. Which, of course, is code for “Someone who loves Indiana Jones so much that they even like Temple of Doom.”

So here’s the challenge, Indy fans: In 100 words or less, whoever can offer the most convincing, heartfelt, or funniest defense of the much-derided Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom wins! Tell me why I shouldn’t want to jab icepicks into my eardrums whenever Kate Capshaw opens her goddamn mouth! Tell me why I shouldn’t be offended by the litany of ethnic stereotypes that Lucas and Spielberg cram into like every scene! Someone, for the love of god, explain to me why I still find Short Round so adorable, despite the fact his dialogue was clearly written by someone who thinks all Asians sound like Mickey Rooney! Or just tell me why—all those reasons be damned!—you still love Temple of Doom.

Contest ends Monday at noon, at which point I’ll pick a winner and inform them via email. (So when you comment, don’t forget to sign in with your email address.) Have at, Indy fans.

There’s a whole cats-on-treadmills YouTube scene. Who knew!!!!!

!!!!

Eugh. Is it just me, or is today like the Fridayiest Friday ever? The über-Friday. It just will.not.end.

DB Clay is turning 10 at the end of the month, and they’re launching another new collection of their amazing wallets (we’re on Version 3.1). To celebrate the 10-year landmark and the launch, they’re throwing a party at Lizard Lounge Boutique (NW 13th & Irving) on Thursday, May 29 with music, art, drinks, and a showcase of the new wallets (which, yes, you can be among the first to purchase). Then, Friday and Saturday, May 30-31, there will be a two-day sales event where you can buy discounted samples, make your own wallet kits, and more.

This is a local company that has an inspiring amount of ambition, personality, and heart. I love the way they weave their lives into their product, like this wallet from the new line. Entitled “Adult Chores”, the print, when you see it up close (there are bigger photos here) turns out to be a crossed out to-do list from compulsive list maker and company founder Garett Stenson.

Get more local fashion news and event info on MOD.

Check out this video of a tuba player tripping a kid.

Now, wouldn’t you agree that tuba players are the MEANEST (or funniest, depending on how you look at it) of all marching band members? OR WOULDN’T YOU? To find out, take this very important Friday poll, and we’ll announce the results this coming Monday at noon! (And as always, feel free to discuss in the comments below the merits and demerits of each band sectional, for example, those bitches, the flutes.)

WHO IS THE MEANEST MARCHING BAND MEMBER?

City auditor Gary Blackmer has appointed a Portland deputy district attorney from two blocks down the street as the new director of the city’s Independent Police Review, after what he claims was a “national search:”

Portland City Auditor Gary Blackmer announced the hiring of Mary-Beth Baptista as the new Director of Independent Police Review. Baptista has been a Deputy District Attorney in Multnomah County for over seven years, and previously worked as an Outreach Coordinator for the Sierra Club.

“She is very experienced working with victims, she knows investigations, and she is an excellent communicator,” Blackmer said. “Her expertise is exactly what we need to ensure fair and thorough investigations of complaints, to work with the community, and to identify ways the Portland Police Bureau can improve its services.”

A national search was conducted to fill the position, and finalists were interviewed by an 8-member panel, including several members of the public. Leslie Stevens, the previous director, was hired by the Portland Police Bureau to oversee its new Office of Professional Standards. Baptista starts in her position on May 29.

As a prosecutor, Baptista is used to representing the police side in court cases. Her “experience working with victims” is therefore limited to crime victims in her most recent role, whereas often, those filing complaints against the police are alleged criminals themselves.

Continuing our presidential party today, check out this interview with Ralph Nader—yep, he’s running too!—by Andrew R Tonry. Nader will be in town on Tuesday evening, at Benson High School. Full details at the end of Tonry’s story.

“I’m not a quitter,” Nader said. “Our agenda is the majoritarian agenda, the others are not the majoritarian agenda. In head-on polling, repeatedly, our positions are supported by the majority of the American people; theirs are not. A lot of [Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain’s] are not at all.”

Lawyers for the City of Portland have cited the production of the documentary Alien Boy in arguing why the media and public should still not be able to see certain documents about the officers involved in James Chasse’s death, which are currently covered by a gag order, in the case filed by Chasse’s family against the city.

Full disclosure: I’m working on the film with director Brian Lindstrom and the Mental Health Association of Portland.

The original gag order, signed on May 25, 2008 October 23, 2007 by Judge Denis Hubel, prohibits the release of broad categories of documents associated with the case to the public. Now, attorneys for the Chasse family are asking that the gag orders be reviewed so that the following documents can be made public: Internal affairs documents; documents from Officer Humphreys and Nice’s personnel files; PPB training documents; PPB after action reports; and City of Portland records involving in-custody deaths.

On page seven of its response, the city says Alien Boy’s production presents a safety risk to the officers involved:
Releasing the requested evidence, says the city, could result in hostility towards the defendants that is prejudicial to the trial. This begs the question: What’s in those documents, exactly? In addition, the city has attached two pages of posts from the Alien Boy blog as exhibits, intending to suggest the film’s supposed dangerousness.

This clever little birthday card was “printed by hand on an antique letterpress” by the Portland-based Letterary Press

And speaking of letterpress! Don’t forget about the Independent Publishing Resource Center’s anniversary party tonight, featuring solo sets from folks like Brandon Summers of the Helio Sequence, Hutch ‘n’ Kathy, Tara Jane O’Neil, and Sam Coomes of Quasi.

Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th (21+), and Backspace, 115 NW 5th (all ages), 8 pm, $10 (includes entry to both venues), tickets available through brownpapertickets.com.

Read all the nice things I had to say about it here, and hit the jump to hear what a few of the participating performers had to say about the show tonight and the IPRC in general.

Brandon Summers:

"I came to participate in the IPRC show through Barbara Tettenbaum. Barbara, (a member of the IPRC Board who works under the imprint Triangular Press), is a very close long-time friend of myself and my wife. We met her through the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts and she was there for both of us during meager times when we first moved to Portland. Barbara is not only an amazing book artist but a great flautist and fiddle player as well. Through her I met a lot of people in the Old-time, Bluegrass, and Irish music scene in Portland and began to play a lot more acoustic guitar...a different side of playing and understanding music for me. Occasionally I sit in on the circles she has at her place during parties and get-togethers and play the few old-time tunes I know, pretend to play along to those I don't, and maybe throw in a song of my own. She noticed this and asked if I would like to play an acoustic set sometime for the IPRC. And...so it goes. This will be the first solo acoustic set I've ever played in public.

"I've never worked with the IPRC myself. To be honest, I spend so much of my time holed up at home and in our studio working on music and travelling that I don't see much of the Independent Press world in Portland. But...looking into it more, it's really inspiring. I have a small book of poetry I've written over the years and I've just been sitting on it for a long time wondering how and where it will see the light of day. My wife is working on the art and book design and now I'm really excited to know about a community of people where I can take things for advice, feedback, and help with realizing it's publication."

Sam Coomes:

*Im not reading zines too much these days, mostly because Im in a continual time deficit, though I used to read them quite a bit. Ive had friends, housemate, etc who published zines - some still do. I think the blog world has sort of taken on a lot of what used to be dealt with in the zine world, for better or worse, but the zine is a higher form than the blog. Anyway, Im not really sure exactly what a zine is anymore, since self published stuff sits accross a pretty wide spectrum. But still, independant press is free press - its obviuosly essential.

Tara Jane O'Neil:

IPRC is a community. it radiates all over the globe.
its seems kind of like the heart of portland DIY
creativity machine.
zine library, letterpress, xerox machine sans kinkos
vibe, scrap paper pile, paste that smells like
kindergarten, etc. its one of the best playgrounds
ever. and the kids dont beat up each other.

Bioshock is a pretty great game—smart and scary and gorgeous and original—and according to Variety, now it’s getting the movie treatment.

Unlike most videogame movies, though, it sounds like this one might not be terrible, and unlike Peter Jackson’s Halo clusterfuck, it sounds like this one might actually get made. Bioshock’s set to be directed by Gore Verbinski (who’s most famous for the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, but whose The Weather Man showed he could do smaller, less blockbustery stuff pretty well) and written by John Logan, who wrote Gladiator, Sweeney Todd, and that one lousy Star Trek movie about Picard’s eeeevil clone.

Bioshock takes place in an underwater city based on the free market principles of Ayn Rand, but things have gone disastrously wrong. Players control a pilot who crash-lands at a secret entrance to the city, called Rapture, and is drawn into a power struggle during which he discovers that his will is not as free as he’d thought.

“I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that’s cleverly unveiled to players is just brimming with cinematic potential,” said Verbinski. “Of all the games I’ve played, this is one that I felt has a really strong narrative.”

Ditto on that: Bioshock’s concept and story is incredibly strong and innovative, and while I know it’s foolhardy to get excited about any videogame-to-film translation, I’m still finding myself cautiously optimistic about the potential radness of a Bioshock flick. The full story is here, and you can go here and here for more.

Barack Obama signed autographs for the employees at this bizarre “technology and software” company that employs biologists and chemists, while a crowd waited outside for his motorcade to leave Beaverton. Meanwhile, you can listen to what he spent the morning talking about. National blogs are already buzzing about his opening comments, where he begins to campaign head to head with John McCain.

Listen to the full audio here.

In pictures of cats we see a beautiful naturalness that charms us. We find a cat’s presence comforting. Their behavior is a reflection of ours. We treat them as fellow humans. They see us as cats. We hold their lives in our hands….

This is how I see myself.

Our Seattle colleague Eli Sanders is slated to talk about the Oregon campaign trail on KUOW, Seattle’s public radio station, at 1 pm. You can listen online here.

And as soon as we can upload it, we’ll be posting audio from Obama’s visit to Beaverton today.

Then stay tuned to Blogtown throughout the weekend, as Obama heads to Eugene and Bend.

File this under perfect job for my lazy friends: Wired is reporting on a new NASA study that requires you to stay in bed for a very long time, and in return they will give you $17,000.

In order to study a person as if they were in space without gravity, NASA scientists use head down tilt bed rest. The 115-119 day study will follow the Bed Rest Project standard model… Participants will live in a special research unit for the entire study and be fed a carefully controlled diet.

Sweet! $17k for just lying around and free food! No word if they will let you smoke weed and pretend to be Niko Bellic all day, but I assume they totally are cool with that sort of thing at NASA.

Since your dreams are dead and you’ll never actually be an astronaut, or go to Space Camp (nerd), this is the next best thing. Apply here.

This weekend, Lurker Films Inc.—the same people who put on the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival every October—is hosting Zompire: The Undead Film Festival at the Hollywood Theater. The festival runs both tonight and tomorrow night from 7 pm to 1 am. See film shorts, film times, and the Zompire website for more info.

And if that’s not enough zombie action for you, Zombie Prom is happening this Saturday night at the Mt. Tabor Legacy. The event will be emceed by Baron Von Goolo of FrightTown fame. In addition to zombie corsages for sale, professional prom photos, and a costume contest (winners will be crowned King & Queen of Zombie Prom), 800 Octane and Writhe in Agony will performing live sets, with DJs Braineater, Non, and Apocalypse on the turntables.

Zompire: The Undead Film Festival, Fri May 9 & Sat May 10, Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7 pm, $10; Zombie Prom, Sat May 10, Mt. Tabor Legacy, 4811 SE Hawthorne, 8 pm, $10 advance, $15 at the door.

This is Matt Davis. Jon Shapiro just lent me his laptop after accidentally treating the crowd here to a full-volume Youtube video when he opened it up to blog. Ironically, the thing wouldn’t shut up, so as former kidney patient Jordan Kokich talked to the hushed audience about her struggles, Barack Obama’s voice was echoing from the Macbook at the back here. It was pretty embarrassing/funny/embarrassing. Mainly embarrassing, actually. Jon had to turn it off, eventually. So now I’m stuck with it for the sake of appearances while he’s off taking pictures. Anyway…

Hillary Clinton just emerged up here at OHSU, after forcing sick kids to wait two hours in the cold to see her. Staffers brought out blankets at one point, so a rather surreal, staged audience of about 36 doctors, family members, and kids on saline drips, most of whom are wrapped in blankets and looking like they need to pee, are watching as Clinton talks with Kokich, a teenager she met in the nineties who has since had a kidney transplant, and the mother of a sick child whose family don’t qualify for the Oregon Health Plan.

Clinton says this morning is about: “My passionate commitment to universal healthcare. I believe it is the unfinished business that we have to resolve.”

“How could you run for the Democratic nomination and not support universal healthcare?” she asks.

She’s introducing a single mother who works at Starbucks, with two children who have spina bifida and bipolar disorder, and whose insurance coverage will run out when the kids stop school. At the moment they have to spend $200 a month on medication.

“I think what we’re concerned mostly about is as they become older, where are they going to be? Are they really going to be able to live independently?” the woman asks.

Clinton says we need an “American coalition that will take on the insurance companies. I don’t believe we can get there without setting the goal of universal healthcare.”

“It’s one of the main reasons I’m running for president,” she continued. “It’s something we need to do for both moral and economic reasons.”

There are about a hundred press here, secret service, and as Clinton closes to take questions fro the press, they’re playing “I won’t back down,” for the FOURTH time this morning. Note to the world’s press: Sorry about Jon’s Youtube.

In case you’ve forgotten (and I certainly did), Mother’s Day is Sunday. In case you’ve forgotten how your mother looks and acts (and I certainly did), check out this hilarioso video from comedian John Roberts and friends, aptly entitled “Mother’s Day.” At least I think it’s Roberts… because I totally remember my mom saying and doing all these things, too!

Need more Mom shenanigans? Check out The Phone Call!

“People are working harder for less,” Sen. Barack Obama is telling an intimate crowd of Vernier Software and Technology employees and press. Instead of helping people live the American dream, “we’ve tipped the scales toward the special interests and Wall Street.”

“We need to reward work, and not just wealth,” Obama says. “That’s why I’ve proposed a ‘making work pay’ $500 tax credit for every worker.”

He’s outlining the differences between himself and John McCain—as if he’s the nominee, and Clinton has already dropped out (he hasn’t mentioned or alluded to her yet).

“I think it’s time to finally make health care affordable and accessible” to every American, he says. They also “have a difference on gas prices,” he adds, saying McCain is for a gas tax holiday “gimmick” that would save people perhaps $30 over the summer. “In the mean time it stands to potentially take money out of the [transportation] trust fund that pays for highways and bridges.”

“I believe that we owe the American people the truth,” he says, explaining that his plan to lower gas prices relies on breaking our addiction to foreign oil by investing in alternative energy, and increasing fuel efficiency standards.

“So there’s going to be a real difference on the ballot in November,” Obama says. “I intend to stand with the American people,” and head in a new direction.

More after the cut…

"It's time for Washington to stand with you, for your hopes and your dreams," he says.

Time for an informal Q&A. "Don't be bashful. Just raise your hand and we'll pass you the mic."

"You have a little difference between yourself and Senator Clinton on your health care plans..." asks a man who works here, doing something with chemicals (I have NO idea what this company does).

"Ninety-five percent of our plans are similar," says Obama. One major difference is "I spend a lot of time thinking about how to lower costs for people who already have insurance or companies who are providing insurance to their employees."

For those who don't have health insurance, he and Clinton both plan to set up a government plan. "You can have all the bells and whistles, you can have a more modest plan... you'd have some choices. Because it would be a large pool, the premiums would be low. If you could not afford it, we would subsidize you."

"Both of us want to emphasis prevention so that we would have a lot of incentives for people to be getting regular checkups, regular screenings," he adds. "I would be putting $10 billion just to be giving providers" software and other equipment to increase medical efficiency.

He says the question is, "who can actually shepherd through a bill" and secure universal healthcare? He's pointing to Clinton's failed plan during the Clinton administration, which he says was crafted behind closed doors, which meant that "by the time she released it, it was dead on arrival." He'd "enlist the American people to get involved in the choices that will be made" so people "feel confident that it's being done for them... and they're ultimately applying pressure to Congress" to pass it.

Robin Johnson, a former science teacher, is in charge of the biology department here. "The current administration, they don't really believe in science..." Obama jumps in: "They really don't believe in science!"

"When you become president, which you will, what will you do to make sure that [science research] is fully funded..." she asks.

Obama says his budget will make science a "one of the top funding areas."

"Though the [current] administration is not a science booster, there are members of the Republican party who are... if we're not generating the number of scientists and engineers, then we're going to fall behind."

A mother of two boys—Janeane—has a question on education. What's Obama's stance on No Child Left Behind, does he think it's a success, need serious revision, or should be disposed of. "I guess that's a rhetorical question," Obama responds. Her second question is about school funding; Schools that don't have a high number of free and reduced lunch students "don't see a federal floodgate" of Title 1 funding.

"I intend to have my secretary of education review how Title 1 funding is allocated to be sure it's been used the way it was originally intended," he says. "No Child Left Behind. The original intention behind it was the right one. We have to have high standards in our schools... if we do not upgrade [students'] performance, they are going to fall behind and the whole economy is going to fall behind."

The requirements for high quality teachers is "a smart goal." Another thing that was good in theory is "disaggregating the data" to see if there are certain populations "that are not doing well... that's something that parents should know." The problem, however, is that it's all tied to a "single, high stakes test." It's not even administered once at the beginning of the year and again at the end to measure progress, it's in the middle of the year, and teachers "are teaching to the test." It crushes creativity, Obama says. And since it primarily tests math and reading, "other subject matter gets pushed to the side."

He wants to let the teachers teach. "Teach literature. Teach biology. Teach civics, history." He wants to reform it with teachers and administrators, so "there's some ownership."

A Beaverton student, David O'Neil, says he's going away to college next year. What will Obama do to help with the cost of education. He says the day his daughter was born, he went home to pick up some things for his wife Michelle. He turned on the news. The lead story: "If your child was born today, college will cost $250,000. I sort of had a heart attack right there on the couch," he says, smiling. The first bill he introduced in the Senate was to increase funding for Pell grants. He also wants to lower the interest rate on the federally guaranteed student loan program, and to expand the amount people can borrow. He'd also like to cut out the middleman on federal loans. "The only rationale for half of the student loans going through banks is because they are a very powerful lobby."

Another thing would be "to offer every student a $4,000 tuition credit every year, in exchange for a certain number of hours of community service" during the school year, or perhaps a commitment to serve in the Peace Corps or to teach or become a nurse or doctor in an underserved community. "We invest in you, you give something back." $4,000 would cover "about two thirds of the average public college tuition."

Marion, an accountant, says "you can guess what my question's about." Obama: "$9 trillion dollars doesn't make you feel good?"

Marion asks, where does the money come from, to subsidize health care and education and science research?

"I am a firm believer in... paying as you go. If you want to cut taxes, then you have to... eliminate programs. The point is, you're paying for what you're doing each and every year. The ways that I'm paying for each one of my proposals. The Wall Street Journal—not a raving liberal newspaper—took at look at my proposals and said roughly speaking, I pay for my proposals."

There are savings, he says, in things like ending the war in Iraq. He'll find revenue in a cap and trade program with an auction for the credits. "My health care plan is paid for by the savings obtained by greater efficiencies in the system... which would save, conservatively, $100 to $150 billion dollars a year." Then he'd roll back the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

"I am not promising that the first year, suddenly we have a balanced budget," because we've got a huge hole. "By the end of two years in office, hopefully we're back in a situation where we're balanced up."

Last question, from Peter: "We play competitive basketball here. Since having good teammates that can play ball is advantageous to you, what's your thought on having Senator Clinton as your running mate?"

"Where you put up to that by one of those reporters back there?" Obama asks. "I said on Brian Williams yesterday, and I will repeat. I have not won this nomination yet. I think it would be presumptuous to suggest that she be my running mate when we are still running. She is going to do very well in West Virginia and Kentucky, she's is going to, in all likelihood, do very well in both states." He thinks he'll do well in Oregon. But until the nominee is chosen, "I don't want to speculate on running mates." He did say that "I think she'd be on anyone's short list of potential running mates."

On the subject of choosing his team, however, he says he puts an emphasis on "competence... having someone who knows what they're doing makes sense, doesn't it?" alluding to FEMA's former chief Michael Brown, who was with a horse racing association before being appointed to the federal post. Integrity is number two. And the third qualifier is independence. "I want people who can say no to me. It's part and parcel to the anti-science bias. This administration does not like dissenting ideas... they wanted people who were predisposed to confirming the president... that's not how you make good decisions. I make good decisions by having a lot of really good people in the room, who will argue until we've got a firm basis of fact... then we can start making some decisions around those facts, and argue about what is our strategy, what are our goals."

"I hope that I can get your vote, and I look forward to serving as your president."

On my way to Beaverton this morning, I heard an ad for city council candidate Chris Smith, touting his experience.

Listen to it here.

Smith has a second one, too, on sustainability.

Barack Obama’s campaign staffers have crammed dozens of reporters into what’s essentially a mid-sized company’s break room. We’re all setting up equipment and training it on this stool:

Which hopefully, in 25 minutes, will hold one Sen. Obama. Unfortunately, I’m seating toward the back, behind employees of Vernier Software and Technology, and behind a wall of TV cameras…

“Why don’t you just drop out?”

“When are you going to be dropping out?”

“Now that you’re behind in the popular vote, the delegate count, and the superdelegates, why don’t you just back down?”

“Tom Petty may have celebrated not backing down, but seriously?”

“At what point does not backing down become frightening/borderline psychotic?”

“How’s it feel for you personally to fail at something you really wanted? Can we compare notes?”

“Do you need the number of a good therapist?”

Your question suggestions, obviously, are both welcome and at this point, it seems, thoroughly required.

Big Day for Oregonians!

*Barack is in Beaverton at some hi-tech firm. Stand by for updates here at Blogtown.

*Hillary is over at OHSU at the Children’s Hospital. Stand by for updates here at Blogtown.

*ALSO* McCain will be here on Monday at the Sheraton near the airport.

In other news,

1. On top of the popular vote and the delegate count, Barack just took the lead in superdelegates.

2. The NYT doesn’t mind if Hillary sticks around, as long as she plays nice from here on out.

3. Stephanopoulus says Hillary would take the VP spot.

4. WAR - Hezbollah takes control of West Beirut.

5. The Gong Show is back. With Dave Attell.

6. First look at Oliver Stone’s upcoming George W. Bush biopic.

7. Murakami’s 4 million dollar Jack-Off Cartoon.

As last night’s Hillary Clinton event was finishing up here in southern Oregon, a familiar face walked by the press area—a friend from college who now travels with the Senator. He looked great for having been in three states in one day, and after a few minutes of catching up he told me to grab my stuff and come with him.

We walked to the back of Olsrud Pavilion, normally the site of livestock sales and farm equipment expos but yesterday evening the site for one of Clinton’s rural Oregon stops as she campaigns toward the state’s May 20 primary.

With the speech over the campaign’s event soundtrack had been turned back on, songs like “American Girl” and “Don’t Stop Believing.” My friend nodded at a Secret Service agent and then the two of us were walking under the risers that had formed Clinton’s backdrop; into a “green room” draped in blue cloth and filled with local law enforcement officers in their dress uniforms, probably waiting for a picture; and past a table holding a New York Post from November 5, 2000 with a note next to it saying “please just sign.” The paper announced Clinton’s victory in her Senate race and Gore’s defeat in the presidential race.

Through a curtain, across a short stretch of concrete, and then, with my friend as my escort, I was suddenly inside the bubble of Secret Service protection that was surrounding Clinton as she worked the rope line. Because of the late hour Clinton had promised the crowd she would answer their questions one on one rather than doing a Q&A, and my friend wanted me to hear what people say to Clinton as she presses the flesh. This is something people don’t see enough, and don’t understand, he was telling me: the intensity of Clinton’s connection with her supporters, the absolute firmness of their conviction that she should go on.

It was true. Inside the bubble with Clinton, all I heard were older women with misty eyes thanking her, older men telling her to press on with the campaign no matter what, younger men and women saying they couldn’t wait to have her as their president. Clinton would sign things—copies of her book, scraps of paper, campaign signs, a copy of an emailed letter to the editor complaining about Clinton’s treatment in the press—and then she would lean in to answer questions and I would lean in behind her, just a foot or so away, trying to hear the exchange above the cheers and the music.

The first question I heard was from a young man asking about gay marriage (Clinton explained she supports civil unions). There was another question about violent video games, another about health care funding, and then it was mostly gift giving and people pleading with her to stay in the race. She received a sticker to put on her car that would identify her as part of the Holy Ghost Racing Team. She smiled. She was handed packages, letters, a necklace, a CD with a copy of a song an older woman had recorded for Bill. She laughed easily, shook hands warmly, signed everything in sight (except money, not allowed).

“Can I shake hands with you?” a woman asked gently. “God bless you.”

“Thank you for hanging in,” said a young man in a blue shirt. “I hope you win, I really do.”

It’s hard to describe the blast of supportive emotion that was directed at Clinton wherever she turned. We were making our way around a cordoned-off circle that surrounded the stage she’d used for her speech, and she was soaking it up, no longer the self-consciously straight shooting and un-flashy presence she cultivates on stage as a contrast to Obama’s soaring oratory.

Instead she was at ease, listening…

…laughing…

…and signing everything in sight, “Hillary.”

She didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. I wouldn’t have wanted to leave, either. It was all praise and support and good wishes in the bubble. It was lovely. It was another world.

Almost an hour late, Clinton kicked off her evening rally inside the arena of the Jackson County Fairgrounds here in southern Oregon by apologizing. She’d been in South Dakota and West Virginia earlier in the day, she said, and only then had headed west.

“I apologize that we were kind of flying against the wind,” she said. “But, you know, that’s the story of my life: fly against the wind, you’ll get there eventually.”

The crowd, filled with many hundreds of supporters (if maybe not the claimed one thousand), ate it up. They all seemed to want Clinton to stay in the race no matter what.

For the most part, though, her appearance was standard: A line about Clinton being more interested in solutions than speeches; details about her gas tax holiday proposal and her health care plan and her Iraq ideas; a (hopeless) challenge to Obama to debate her any time time and anywhere, perhaps even in Portland tomorrow morning when they’ll both be in the city.

The only new bit, to my ears, was Clinton’s closing, in which she explained her reasons for continuing on:

You know, people say to me all the time, ‘Boy, you’re a fighter.’ Well, yes, because you know there’s a lot in life that is worth fighting for and this country is worth fighting for.

People say to me all the time, ‘Well, are you going to keep going?’ Well, yes, of course I’m going to keep going.

[Huge applause.]

I’m gonna keep going because you keep going.

I look at that sign, ‘Single mothers for Hillary,’ I don’t know how single mothers do it. Every day, they keep going. When I meet somebody who’s lost their job, and they don’t know why, it’s just been pulled out from under them, they keep going. When I meet somebody who doesn’t have health insurance, and doesn’t know how they’re going to pay for their son’s operation, they keep going.

When people get up every day and face the odds that so many face in life, and they keep going—of course. That’s what you do if you believe that the future can be better than the present. I believe that with all my heart.

More Friday morning, including a lucky reunion with an old friend that ended in me being whisked inside Clinton’s Secret Service bubble to watch her sign autographs and field questions along the rope line.

So Speed Racer opens tomorrow, and a lot of people are really, really stoked for it—and a lot of people a really, really going to hate it.

Nothing invites fanboy discontent like remaking a classic cartoon (a year after it came out, I still get shit for liking Transformers)—but more than that, I think a lot of people are going to be put off by Speed Racer’s visuals, and also by its general tone. This is a kids movie through and through, and the Wachowski Brothers have made a giddy, eye-bending spectacle that’s sure to delight anyone under the age of 10. As for anyone older than that… I have no idea who’ll like this sort of thing and who’ll just get pissed off by it.

ANYWAY. If you’re a bit wary, Yahoo! Movies (via AICN) has the first seven minutes of the flick online. If you like it (and if it doesn’t give you motion sickness, or trigger an epilepsy attack), I’d recommend checking it out in theaters this weekend. Sadly, mainstream movies that’re this visually experimental don’t come along very often (the closest visual parallels to Speed Racer I can think of, actually, are a few of the films that screened at the Peripheral Produce Invitational), and watching this sort of thing on a computer monitor just doesn’t do it justice.

Inside the arena at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in southern Oregon, a not exactly full house one hour before Hillary Clinton is scheduled to arrive…

…while outside the light fades on a warm day here in this overwhelmingly white (as in 93 percent white) corner of the state.

Earlier I spent some time talking to Hillary supporters as they arrived, waited in line, and headed inside the arena. Here’s Philip Frisby, 84, a retired cement delivery person from Grants Pass, Oregon.

“I think it’s just great that she’s staying in,” Frisby told me. He isn’t a big fan of Obama. He’s heard Obama won’t sing the national anthem, that he considers it a war song. “How good an American could he be if that’s his way of thinking?” Frisby asked. “His patriotism goes one way—that’s his way.”

How did Frisby hear about Obama’s dislike of the national anthem? You guess it: By email.

Now meet Margaret Roper, 74, a homemaker from Grants Pass.

“I don’t think she should drop out,” Roper told me. “I think she should stay in until the last.”

She’s also not a big Obama fan. “I don’t think he’s got the qualifications she does,” Roper said. “I think she’s a better person.”

One reason: “I think you should be proud to be an American. I think he should defend our country in every way, shape, and form, and I would not have listened to the things his preacher said.”

Can Hillary even win the nomination at this point?

“It’s possible,” Roper said. “She’s a fighter.”

Deanna Rogers, 43, arrived with McKyla Crowder, 14. Rogers could not explain how Hillary Clinton still has a viable path to the nomination. “She can give it a try,” said Rogers, who works as a real estate agent in Medford. “She can’t give up now. It’s not over until it’s over.”

“I hope she will win,” said Balaman Poorkhomani, 52, of Ashland. “Because I like her husband. We had a great country when he was president.”

And if she doesn’t win? Is the country ready to vote for a black man for president?

“Of course.”