WERNER HERZOG—Erik could have just listed Werner Herzog quotes in his review of Werner Herzog—A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin, but he refrained. Fortunately, he included a few delightful turns of phrase from the man. Here's Herzog on chickens:

Chickens in some forms—roasted, for example—are perfectly acceptable to me, but look into their eyes while they are alive and bear witness to genuine, bottomless stupidity. They are the most horrifying and nightmarish creatures in this world.

And Herzog on hospitality:

For a time I slept in a nearby hut owned by a hunchback dwarf, her nine children and more than 100 guinea pigs, which crawled all over me.

Werner Herzog: still the greatest.

LIFE IS SHORT—ART IS SHORTER—Santi Elijah Holley took on what seems like the millionth David Shields book to be published this year (it's not actually), Hawthorne Books' Life is Short—Art is Shorter, co-edited with Elizabeth Cooperman. Full disclosure: I read this book in galley form last summer, and I loved it with the uncritical approach of a 15-year-old boy drooling over Jack Kerouac. Santi's take on it is much more reasoned, thank god:

Some entries work better than others, and a few pieces, such as Lee Siegel's critique of the television adaptation of Angels in America, feel out of place—and indeed too lengthy—to include in this collection. The introductions to each section, too, are overlong and unnecessarily expository, and the writing assignments are an unfortunate distraction from what's an otherwise excellent anthology. And, of course, David Shields, with 16 (and rapidly counting) books to his credit, seems an odd champion of brevity. But the man knows what he likes.

THE OTHER PLACE—I was so happy to review Portland Playhouse's The Other Place, if only because it gave me a chance to gush about Sharonlee McLean, one of my absolute favorite Portland actors. The play's good, too, and really fucking sad. It's about a woman with early-onset dementia, and what losing control of your brain is like:

The first symptoms appear while she's giving a lecture on her pharmaceutical research, because Juliana happens to be a high-powered scientist studying the very disease she doesn't want to admit she has. Without giving too much away, The Other Place juxtaposes Juliana's disappearing memories with the veneer of autonomy: The tension between the Juliana seen giving that lecture and ongoing revelations about how little control she actually has over her life forms the play's central conflict. It's fascinating and suspenseful, and not at all the domestic drama I expected.

THE SOCIETY HOTEL—I also toured Old Town/Chinatown's in-progress Society Hotel, a onetime refuge for sailors who preferred not to be swindled. There have been no reported ghost sightings... YET. But there WILL BE fancy bunk beds, which sounds more fun than a hut full of guinea pigs.