This Week in the Mercury
Friday, October 30, 2009
Film To Do Tonight or Tomorrow: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Zombieland.
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Tonight and tomorrow night, the 99W Drive-In (3000 Portland Road, Newberg) is hosting a truly fantastic double feature: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Zombieland. First feature starts at dusk, second feature follows. Stock up on some Twinkies beforehand and enjoy.
Politics The WEIRDEST Health Reform Cartoons, Ever
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:17 PM
I just opened an envelope from Japan, and found this inside.
Accompanying the note were the weirdest health reform cartoons you will ever see. Seriously. After the jump.
Fashion Heavy Syrup
Posted by Marjorie Skinner on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Not to keep harping on how awesome Content was (but it was), but one of my favorite rooms at the event was Luxury Jones'. In it, two films were projected simultaneously on the wall of the room, together the collective tale of a wild night out with lots of costume changes (all Luxury Jones' hot-ass party clothes). If you missed it, regular Mercury photo contributor Minh Tran, who shot the films (called "Heavy Syrup") and even composed and performed the original score with Vera Domini, has unleashed them online. You can watch them separately but to get the full effect, here are his playback instructions:
1. Depending on the resolution of your monitor, you’ll see the two videos side by side (which is ideal) or on top of each other (which is a bit of a bummer but not the biggest of deals).2. Completely mute the volume on one of the videos - the audio is identical on both so you won’t be missing out. If you want to see each of the videos individually in full screen, return the volume to normal levels for the one you muted (obviously). Depending on your internet connection and the processing capabilities of your computer, you may have to watch these videos independently for smooth playback. We tried our best to make each of the videos entertaining on their own.
3. Press play on one video and then as quickly as possible press play on the other video. Then go back to the first video and pause it for a split second to compensate for the difference in start times.
4. When the opening sequences start up, the videos should be identical, pause and unpause accordingly to get them synchronized as closely as possible. You should be all set after this.
Let the hot girls, good times in Portland clubs and even the scary ending be your inspiration for this weekend's parties. In the meantime, plenty of info on PDX shopping and fashion over on MOD. Oh, and dibs on the black fringed mini-dress!
News / Politics Carve Your Ballot Measure Pumpkin Now
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:58 PM
You know those two ballot measures that are coming up in January? Well the folks at Defend Oregon have been busy carving out their "vote yes" pumpkins, and you can go check them out from 4:00 to 5:30 at the Hollywood Library today. They're also giving away six large pumpkins for those of you with an interest in free squash.
Carve a ballot measure pumpkin!
Politics Hurry! This May Be Your Last Chance to Snag a "Don't Tread on Me" Tote Bag!
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:56 PM
The big Teabaggers Express bus rolled into town today as one stop on a 37 city "Countdown to Judgment Day" Tour. The several hundred person rally in the SE 12th and Burnside parking lot of Michael's Italian Beef (talk about a sausage fest...) included the usual speeches and singing of "God Bless the USA" but hey! Special additions to this protest that weren't at the previous tea bag protests in town: tons of fresh new anti-Obama schwag! Here's a visual compendium:
- These tote bags only $5 with purchase of an anti-Obama t-shirt!!
Unfortunately, the protest is wrapping up right now, so you're going to have to book it down there to snag the t-shirt that will stop socialism dead in its tracks. On the other hand, they'll probably be easier to steal as the buses are loading out...
More pictures below the cut.
Mercury Mercury/Doug Fir Halloween Party: WIN $500!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:35 PM
DON'T FORGET! Tomorrow night's "Best Little HORROR House in Portland" at the Doug Fir will not only be a goddamn blast, admission is FREE with a costume! (And if you decide to enter our Costume Stripping Contest—see below for details— you could win $500 CASH! Woot now!!) Just check out all the fun we'll be having!
Schedule of Events:
3 pm- 6 pm: Pumpkin Carving in the Doug Fir Bar!
6 pm: Doors open!
7 pm: Pumpkin Smashing Contest, hosted by Gallagher and Billy Corgan!* With prizes for best smash!
7:30 — 9 pm: Horrific skits from local comedy troupes including Hand 2 Mouth, Action/Adventure, tEEth, and the Mercury Thespian Society (see Alison's post for details)!
9:00 — 10 pm: Costume (Stripping) Contest! Celebrity judges! We choose the music, YOU STRIP. Winner takes home $500 cash money!
10:00 pm: Music from The Bugs and Red Fang!
Midnight: Sacrifice a goat!**
This one's gonna get ba-zonkers, folks! SO DON'T MISS IT!
*Not actually Gallagher or Billy Corgan
** Not actually a goat
Artsy Portland's Finest Performance Artists* at the Mercury's Halloween Party
Posted by Alison Hallett on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:33 PM
In addition to music from Red Fang and the Bugs ("metal," I'm told), the Mercury's Halloween party at the Doug Fir tomorrow will feature short performances from some of Portland's most exciting companies:Hand2Mouth, Action/Adventure Theater, and tEEth,
Hand2Mouth Theater's family-themed show Everyone Who Looks Like You has been in development for a while now—tomorrow's a chance to catch a sneak excerpt of the show before the full premiere on Nov 6. Hand2Mouth's best show to date, Repeat After Me, had a Fourth of July theme—who knows what they'll pull out for Halloween....
Action/Adventure Theatre is stealthily building an entertainment empire, with a new web series called Fothing that piggybacks on the success of their semi-improvised theater serial Fall of the House. New episodes of Fothing premiere every Wednesday night at the Woods, and hit the web on Thursdays. Of their Halloween performance, Mercury Food Editor Patrick Coleman (himself a former Fall of the House cast member) says, "We have A/A doing confrontational stuff in the crowd, which I hope doesn't lead to anyone getting hurt... 'Cause it totally could."
I'm a huge fan of dance company tEEth—and they have a native creepiness that makes them perfect Halloween entertainment. Here's an excerpt from last year's Grub:
And finally, the Portland Mercury Players present will present a zombie-themed travesty that promises to shock, offend, and/or make you slightly embarrassed on our behalf.
Performance fun starts around 7:30 pm—that's tomorrow night at the Doug Fir!
(*and the Portland Mercury players .)
Books / Events Go To A Real Life Satanic Ritual
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:33 PM
The Mississippi Studios is hosting a Process Church of the Final Judgment ritual on Sunday night, led by Timothy Wyllie, who has just written a book about the church, based on his experiences with it. The cult spun off from Scientology in London during the early 1960s, and went through a series of bizarre permutations, including a connection with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful, not to mention George Clinton, who reproduced Process material in two Funkadelic albums. Here, however, is all you need to know about how creepy the whole deal was:
Wyllie has just published Love Sex Fear Death, through Feral House publications out of Port Townsend, Washington. It includes lots of reproduced artwork from when Wyllie was art director of the Church's magazine, as well as music from process church hymns, which will be sung on Sunday night at the Miss, if you're into that. I particularly enjoyed "Christ and Satan Joined In Unity." Very subtle. I figure any cult that span off from Scientology has to be a little interesting, no matter how bizarre.
Geek / OMG AL ROKER! / Drunk / TV The Best Thing You Will See Today. Or Any Day, Actually.
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Homo / Film Win Tickets to Invincible Shaolin!
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:16 PM
Hot damn! The 1978 Shaw Brothers flick Invincible Shaolin screens next week! Dan Halsted of the Grindhouse Film Festival sums it up:
The Venom Mob star as a group of fighters who are pitted against each other in a North Shaolin vs. South Shaolin kung fu showdown! Three South Shaolin students start intensive (and extremely strange) training to master various fighting styles and martial arts weapons. Funky style and huge sideburns reign supreme, colliding with director Chang Cheh's trademark violence and homo-eroticism. This movie also features some of the best training sequences in martial arts movie history.
Wanna go? Of course you do. Wanna go for free? Of course you do.
You know the drill: Email me no later than 4 pm today (Friday October 30), and make sure your email's subject line is "Venom." Shortly after 4 pm, I'll pick a winner at random* and email 'em back to let them know how to pick up their tickets. HAVE AT.
Invincible Shaolin screens Tuesday, November 3, at 7:45 pm at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy).
*Flattery helps.
News How Can Progressive Portlanders Accept Racism?
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 1:26 PM
The Urban League of Portland asked that question during its very interesting presentation to City Club today on the State of Black Oregon report (pdf) it released over the summer. Matt and I wrote about the report in July, but even though I'd heard the info before, the experts' presentation to the City Club was chilling.
- Urban League President Marcus Mundy addresses the swank City Club
Portland Public School Deputy Superintendent of Programs Charles Hopson continued the trend with an equally damning speech. Hopson drew contrasts between schools such as Alameda (majority white, majority middle and upper class) with King (majority students of color, majority poor) which are only a half a mile apart. The differences in demographics and programs at those two schools reveal the "failed attempts of integration and desegregation" which has led to a district-wide "civil rights violation of the worst kind.” He posed no solutions but instead a question. "Does this city have the moral consciousness and the political will to... provide the equity of opportunity for every student that many of your students enjoy by virtue of race, zip code and privilege?"
Portland State professor Karen Gibson pointed out that while the state is freaking out about its current 12 percent unemployment rate (and with good reason) the unemployment rate for African Americans in Oregon has been 12 percent since the 1970s. And, says Gibson, things are not getting better economically for Oregon's black residents. In the 1970s, average African American income in Portland was 75 percent the average white income. In 2006, the average African American income was just 41 percent of the average white income. That's the fault of a historic lack of investment in black neighborhoods like Albina, but also present day racism embedded in institutions."As we've seen in the racial disparity in mortgage lending, it's still going on," says Gibson, also calling out the N/NE Economic Development Initiative as "not an empowering process."
Plus, points out Gibson, Oregon spends far more on prisons (which incarcerate a disproportionate number of black people) than community development programs. "Investing in people’s human potential is the very essence of sustainability," says Gibson. "It is not rocket science. It is not sexy. But it is smart."
Media An Ode to the Asian Reporter.
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Goddamit, I'm admitting defeat. Whatever the Mercury tries to do that's a little bit wacky, the local Asian Reporter always, ALWAYS beats the pants off us. Yeah, we released a print version of the internet, but there's just no way we can match the Reporter's consistently idiosyncratic mix of local news, zany international stories and mind-boggling headlines.
So here, in deference to my favorite paper in town, is a small collection of Asian Reporter headlines and covers I've collected over the past several months. Keep up the good work, guys.
- This week's, for example. Not only a Nepalese midget as front page news but also the moon is marrying thousands of couples?
- A classic.
Music Win Tickets to Devo!!!
Posted by Ezra Caraeff on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 11:01 AM
This is a message for: Hardcore DEVOted spuds, casual Devo fans, Jocko Homos, Mongoloids, and those who enjoy the thrill of wearing an energy dome on their head.
We are giving away a pair of tickets to see Devo at the Moore Theatre in Seattle on Sunday November 8th and Monday, November 9th. Two nights of Devo, and we are parting with a pair of tickets to each show. Holy crap! Head on over to End Hits for your chance to win.
Homo "Gay Eradication Day"
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Lefty? Progressive? Got gay friends? Support gay rights? Don't spend your tourist dollars in Jamaica.
When THE STAR visited the area, a small group of residents pointed out an old community centre which is said to be the main 'hang out' spot for the lesbians. According to the residents the lesbians gather there almost nightly and can be seen hugging, kissing and even "touching".The residents say they are mostly worried about the lesbian group as they are most prevalent and influential. The number of persons in this group is said to be steadily increasing. In terms of the suspected gay men, the residents claim they are not as bold as the lesbians and are fewer but they too are expected to comply with the two-week notice.
No quotes from the authorities about protecting the gay men and lesbians in town where the "eradication" is under way. Because, of course, the authorities in Jamaica don't protect gays and lesbians from mob violence. Background on boycotting Jamaica is here. And if Barack Obama is going to send an openly gay ambassador anywhere, he should send one to Jamaica.
News Good Morning News!
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Big Fat Fraud: UN says Afghanistan's election might be open to rigging.
Just in Time for Halloween! Walmart now sells coffins—and they're even made in the USA!
Clinton Pressed in Pakistan: Though Hillary's on a peace mission, she's got some 'splaining to do about drone plane bombings in Pakistan.
Leakage: Whoopsie! Someone accidentally leaked the names of Congressmen and Senators under ethics investigation.
King of the World! Tony Blair is gunning to be president of the European Union.
Stop You Search Engines: A good little article online about not reading things online.
It's a Bra, No It's a Swine Flu Facemask: Lady wins award for inventing a bra that can become a facemask for herself and a friend.
Long and Wind-y Road: Oregon loves wind power, but what about building new power lines through public land?
Shots Fired on Defazio's Office: Gunfire hit Oregon rep Pete Defazio's office... was he a target?
Bill Sizemore in Trouble... Again! Teachers' union alleges the initiative-grubber and his Nevada financier hid and misused money during the 2008 election.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sports Blazers vs Nuggets - Hot Live Blog Action
Posted by Ezra Caraeff on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Denver Nuggets in a really important basketball game. The reason tonight is so important—other than it being Winona Ryder's birthday (Happy 37th, babe.)—is because the Northwest Division will most likely come down to Portland and Denver, and the margin between the two teams will be slimmer than Winona in Jarmusch's Night on Earth. Since someone has to win the division—and it ain't gonna be Oklahoma City—the Blazers need to put as much distance between them at the Nuggets as possible.
Come on in. Nerdy basketball jokes and Heathers references await.
Artsy This Week's Mercury Arts Section
Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:51 PM
BOOKS:
I interview Jonathan Safran Foer about his new non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer gives an exceptionally good interview—I didn't have room to print it all in this week's paper, but the full transcript is online now. His book is refreshingly non-polarizing, offering a potential bridge between vegan/vegetarian and "ethical meat eating" communities. As he put it in our interview, "I thought [my book] was going to be a straightforward case for vegetarianism. Which it isn’t. It’s probably a case for vegetarianism, but it’s not altogether straightforward."
Courtney Ferguson, our resident expert on all things disgusting, reviews Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection.
John Irving has a new book out. Ned Lannamann's verdict? Not terrible! Pretty good, in fact. Irving will be reading at the Bagdad next Wednesday—$28 admission gets you a copy of the book.
And finally, a short review of Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets, a poppy new novel that borrows its plot points directly from today's headlines (mortgage crises, collapse of newspaper industry), yet avoids being as depressing as it probably should be. Also, proposes "pot dealer" as new career path for displaced journalists. (I'm listening....) Walter is reading tonight at Powell's downtown—also tonight, at the Cedar Hills Store, Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer reads from And Another Thing..., his new authorized Hitchhiker's Guide sequel. (Skimming it, it struck me as sort of rote and stilted, but admittedly I didn't spend much time with it.)
And if you're out and about, tonight is the 16th anniversary of In Other Words Bookstore, featuring readings from Ariel Gore Ariel Gore and Hope Hitchcock, and music from This Charming Man and Marisa Anderson. That's at the Q Center, 4115 N. Mississipi, 6 pm, $7-30 sliding scale donation
THEATER:
Did you know that the affable nerds who brought you Trek in the Park have a new show—an adaptation of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu? (And in imminent conflict-of-interest news, my boss Wm. Steven Humphrey will be trading off "special guest star" duties with former KUFO DJ/current Mercury freelancer Fatboy Roberts.) This and other Halloween-themed productions are previewed right here.
Plus, CoHo Productions continues to impress with their new production of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love.
VISUAL ART, ETC
No visual art review in the paper this week, but openings tonight include an installation from Benjamin Young at Appendix Project Space, and Vinyl Killers 7 at the Goodfoot.a
Film New Avatar Trail—PANDORAAAAAAAAH!!!!
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 3:58 PM
So I have a vague suspicion that those selling this film are trying to make it look just a teensy bit epic. This trailer is about as subtle as shouting "HOLY SHIT NEW JAMES CAMERON IT'S SO INSANE IT'S GONNA MAKE YOUR DICK EXPLODE ARE YOU READY HELL YES YOU'RE READY!!! PANDORAAAAAAAAH!!!!" (Which is a good thing, as far as I can tell; so far, the marketing department at Fox hasn't seemed to know what he hell to do with Avatar, but at least now they're trying to convey the sense that it's a Big Deal.)
Via AICN. (A site which also inspired the look of the Film section in this week's Halloween dress-up issue.)
News Read The Goddamn News
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 3:07 PM
OREGON'S FILTHY SECRET Despite its green dreams, Oregon is fueled by 40 percent coal. What can we do about it?
FIGHT FOR YOUR RITES LGBT activists split over the fight for marriage equality.
DRAGGING IT OUT OF HIM City forces Saltzman to publish cops' secret list.
APATHY, OR DISCRIMINATION? Why aren't Portland police prosecuting homeless beatdowns?
Read the goddamn news.
Mercury Today's Burning Question Burning Up Questionland!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Where can I find tiger ears/tail for a Halloween costume?
Ooh, Sean! Are you gonna be a sexy tiger? Rrowrr! Rrrowr! I'd like to catch that tiger by the tail! I'd like to lend that tiger "a paw"! Ooooh. Does kitty scratch? Does he? Rrrrrrrrrrrrowrrrr!
QUESTIONLAND: Just keepin' it awkward, ya'll!
News / Courts Chasse Case Won't Get A Fair Trial In Portland
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 2:37 PM
I'm not going to lie, I missed this yesterday. In fact, I wrote the date down wrong, but it's big news, and so it's time to play catch up. There was a hearing in federal court yesterday to decide whether to unseal certain documents in the Chasse case. The Oregonian and Willamette Week were both there, and I'm going to link you to James Pitkin's coverage because it caught the most interesting angle in proceedings—that the judge not only ruled against releasing more documents, but also, said he's considering trying the Chasse case outside Portland, because it's impossible to find a juror in Multnomah County who hasn't had their mind poisoned by all the media outrage surrounding the case.
As if to bear the judge's opinion out, this video just surfaced online. Full disclosure, I'm working on a documentary about Chasse's death, but it seems some people can't wait for the damned thing to come out, and have begun trying to make documentaries of their own. This one, posted by Bob Seaver, features maudlin piano, and even poetry, to make its point. In particular, it focuses on statements being made recently by the Portland Police Association boss, Scott Westerman, in defense of the officers involved in the death:
Seaver recently discovered iMovie, it seems, having just posted another Youtube focusing on Mark Kruger, a cop with an interest in "military history."
Politics Guess Who Lost the "Death Panel" Debate?
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 2:34 PM
The Democrats unveiled their $894 billion healthcare overhaul today and surprise surprise, guess what's still included? Portland representative Earl Blumenauer's small section on providing end-of-life care that spiraled into the whole "death panels" hysteria.
The policy provides reimbursement for time doctors spend counseling patients about end-of-life options, but the funny thing is that Blumenauer's office says the misinformation-riddled attacks on the straight-forward idea actually helped keep it in the healthcare bill. "The outrageous and vindictive attacks over the last few months backfired and ironically helped to raise awareness about this problem, which is why it’s been kept in the bill," says Blumenauer. The obviously-false attacks on the legislation actually rallied support around the provision and raised its profile—Obama even wound up mentioning it in his big address of the healthcare joint session.
- BT Livermore
Portland The Ghosts of Lone Fir Cemetery
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:05 PM
The unofficial caretaker of Portland's oldest and largest pioneer cemetery is a young guy named Frank Schaefer whose hair is bleached blond, whose nose sports a thin silver ring nose and whose license plate reads "SHRIEK". That license plate, by the way, is attached to the back of a vintage hearse whose backseats are currently full of zombie baby mannequins.
"People are afraid of cemeteries because they're full of death, but look, there's trees in bloom. There's birds and bees," says Schaefer, gesturing the the red and yellow leaves covering Southeast Portland's Lone Fir Cemetery on a crisp Saturday morning. Though Schaefer spends his free time poring over files stuffed with death records and newspaper clippings, this morning he turned up at Lone Fir to lead a dress rehearsal for the graveyard's busiest night of the year: Halloween. Nealy 1,000 Portlanders lined up outside Lone Fir's chain link fence last Halloween to take the bloody-but-educational Tour of Untimely Departures. This year, Schaefer's thinking big. Instead of just one tour, two tours will head in opposite directions, each stopping at a mix of historically-relevant and satisfyingly gory graves. Lone Fir houses the bones of some of Portland's most well-known founders, as well as dozens of unmarked graves whose residents who remain nameless both in death and in the history books.
"It's pretty gnarly to hear the story. There were apparently body parts all over the docks," says Schaefer, stopping at the grave of the creators of Lone Fir, James and Elizabeth Stephens. The couple, who ran ferry service across the Willamette back in the 1830s and 40s, owned a giant eastside farm (stretching from the river to SE 28th and Stark to Division) and turned a few acres into the graveyard after the tragic steamboat accident Schaefer described. The couple stare out at cemetery-goers from their tombstone, facing the tall fir tree for which the cemetery is named. The back of their stone is carved with a poetic but chilling paragraph: "Here we lie by consent after 57 years, 2 months and 2 days sojourning through life awaiting nature's immature laws to return us back to the elements of the universe of which we were composed."
- Frank Schaefer and the founders of Lone Fir.
Nearby, a white stone obelisk rises to honor Dr. Hawthorne, who ran an insane asylum on the site of the current southeast Lucky Lab back in the 1800s. Though he was renowned for taking good care of his patients, according to Schaefer, who combed newspaper archives for information about the doctor, the patients' families did not always give them too much thought. When families would not claim their bodies, Hawthorne buried 132 of his patients in the cemetery on his own dime. No one knows exactly where the 132 forgotten souls are buried, but Schaefer believes some were entombed in what's known as "Block 14"—the southeast corner of the cemetery where the unmarked graves of Chinese railroad workers also lie.
Events Halloween Debauchery
Posted by Ali "the Intern" Reingold on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:25 AM
There’s a pretty good roundup of Halloween events in this week’s issue, but here’s an additional listing, for those ill-fated happenings that didn’t make it in.
Of course, you don't really need this list, because you're coming to the Doug Fir, right? For the Mercury's FREE Best Little Horror House In Portland event? Right? Oh, good. Still...here's some other events, for those of you that like spending money. And just in case the line at the DF is more than four blocks. Five. More than five blocks.
Howl: Benefiting The City Repair Project, the deal here is four different stages with live music. Supposedly, it's a mighty fine time, but only if you're willing to shell out. Costumes required for entry. 320 SE 2nd, 9 pm-6 am, $28
Bollywood Horror VII: DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid host this costume dance party. Win cash and/or prizes and rock out to Bollywood and Bhangra. Fez Ballroom, 316 SW 11th Ave, 9 pm-3 am, $10 with costume
Disjecta Dance Party: Featuring E*Rock, Copy, Atole, Guidance Counselor, and DJ Automaton. They’ve turned the place into a labyrinth, too. If only there were a tight-panted and bulging David Bowie to go along with it. Plus, kid-friendly activities during the day. 8371 N Interstate Avenue, 9 pm-dawn, $10
Nightmare on Burnside: The Rose City Rollers are hosting this fundraiser, which includes dancing, karaoke, a costume contest, a silent auction, a not so talented talent show ($100 grand prize), and rollergirls aplenty. Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside, 9 pm-2:30 am, $20 (includes 2 drinks and 1 raffle ticket)
Green Dragon Halloween Costume Contest: Another benefit, this one for Monika's House Shelter. A good cause and no cover? I like it. Green Dragon Brewpub, 928 SE 9th St, 10 pm, no cover but donation suggested to enter costume contest
Heaven and Hell Halloween: $3 Jim Beams all night at East Burn, plus $500 to the winning costume, Church of Surf playing upstairs and DJ Sesqui vs DJ Standing8 downstairs. East Burn, 1800 E Burnside, $5 (includes free PBR with costume)
Roots Halloween Party: First prize for the costume contest is a night at Haystack Inn at Cannon Beach, second prize is dinner for two at Roots. Music by Liquid. Roots Organic Brewery, 1520 SE 7th, music at 9 pm, costume judging at 10 pm
And, of course, there's a costume contest with cash prizes going on at just about every bar in town.
And, of course, this is all moot, because you're going to join the Mercury for Halloween anyway. Right?
TV / Music Today's Nightmare Generator: The VentriloChoir
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Some people are just too busy to be creeped out by Halloween. That's why we've developed the Nightmare Generator™ which implants images of disturbing things in your brain, resulting in a general feeling of uneasiness and low grade horror. Today's Nightmare Generator™ is a segment from Hungary's "Sandor Fridercruz" show featuring a choir of ventriloquist dummies singing the Beatles' "Yesterday."
As you watch this and your nightmare is being generated, take time to reflect on some of this video's many mysteries. Such as, "Why is the guy with a mustache such a bad ventriloquist?" Or, "Why do the ventriloquists with the least hair have dummies with thick, lustrous hair?" Or, "Why do we live in a world where black ventriloquists are the only people to use black dummies?" Not that black people or dummies are dummies, but you know what I mean. Shutting up now.
Extra credit: The VentriloChoir were at one point Conan O'Brien regulars. Anybody remember?
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