Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Utah Jazz in completely meaningless pre-season basketball. But good news, kids, this is the final (home) pre-season contest for Portland, and this afternoon's game will be the Blazers' first look at their division rival, the swinging' Jazz cats from Utah.

The shape of pre-season basketball to come...

See it for yourself:

The Bus Project flipped the theory on its head, however, asking if older people should be able to vote. Check out their video response, featuring the Bus' Jefferson Smith with a fantastic Stossel-esque mustache, and man-on-the-street interviews with "experienced" voters in downtown Portland:

No one wants to read through 2 hours of transcribed interviews from my time here at Blizzcon -- at least, none of you do -- so I'm distilling everything down into a simple list of things I've learned this weekend. Hopefully this will also cover all the questions you guys offered up.

Oh, and as always, if you're wondering about anything I don't cover, hit the comments and ask. I may have it somewhere in all this damn audio stored on my iPhone, or at the very least I can call Blizzard's PR people and bug them.

It's yet another excuse for me to offer sexual favors for an early copy of Diablo III.

Dear Mercury,

Blizzcon is awesome. We spent the day weaving baskets and after the campfire we went for a swim in the lake. One of the other kids was bit by a fish, but he's ok now.

I miss you and mom a lot, and thanks for the care package. One of the older kids stole those peanut butter cookies, but we filled his shoes with ketchup for revenge.

Love, Nexy

(PS: The counselors wanted me to pass along these two videos to show what they've been up to. The above one is six minutes of gameplay from StarCraft 2 and the one at the bottom is six minutes of the newly-revealed Wizard class from Diablo III. If you look close, you can see a dreamcatcher I made at the 3:24 mark.)

The Guardian says the report's findings "could barely have been worse for the Republicans," and describes the decision as a "bodyblow" for McCain.

The Kansas City Star says Palin's "stunning abuses of power sting her campaign."

The AP has video saying her supporters are calling the investigation "political," juxtaposed against a Republican lawmaker on the investigation committee emphasizing how much it wasn't:

The BBC lays it out nice and simple, like. Pointing out that "Mrs Palin did not co-operate in the bi-partisan Legislative Council's investigation, and she always denied any wrong-doing."

You can download the whole report here. Page nine mentions Palin and her husband hired a private investigator to look into Palin's brother-in-law. Page 22 has the chief of police describing how he felt pressured to fire the trooper or be fired by the Palins. Pretty cut and dried, really.

Lastly, to add insult to injury, the Houston Chronicle shows Palin met with dozens of business lobbyists while Governor in Alaska, having told NPR in a recent interview she only met with "two or three." She also courted media attention with plates of brownies for reporters and calls to journalists on their birthdays...in stark contrast to her attacks on the media since joining the Republican presidential ticket.

I'VE GOT NOTHING.

I was going to blog this, until a coworker coldly informed me that "desperation blogging is not good blogging."

I can't do this alone. Please direct cat-related adorableosity to ahallett@portlandmercury.com for Cat Friday consideration. Thank you.

PORTLAND, OR - An Oregon improv group, The Light-Fingered Five, will perform at the Campaign for Change office in Oregon City on Friday, October 10th to help register voters and support Barack Obama's Campaign for Change.

WHO: The Light-Fingered Five

WHAT: Free Improv Performance

WHERE: Obama's Oregon City Campaign For Change Office
611 Main Street
Oregon City, OR

WHEN: Friday, October 10, 2008
8:00 pm PST

I've never seen this troupe before, but props to them for getting involved and trying to use theater to directly address our current political reality. Escapism isn't really working for me right now--the idea of prying myself away from the headlines for a night of hermetic entertainment with no bearing whatsoever on the election or the economy makes me feel a little itchy. (Same goes for books: Forget the new Roth, I'm curling up with a pile of these tonight.)

Brendan Kiley at the Stranger has a piece this week in which he breaks down the ten things he thinks theater companies need to do in order to "save themselves" (from what, he doesn't say. Presumably some combination of financial ruin and cultural obsolescence). Read it here. if you have even a passing interest in theater, and then read the comments. While I don't agree with all of Brendan's prescriptions, I can't argue that I'd like to see more companies ditch the Shakespeare and focus on premiering new work, and they need to do it fast and dirty--Artists Rep, at least, got that memo, as they're already two plays in to an all-premiere season, with another show opening next weekend. The CoHo, too, will soon be opening the Northwest premiere of Adam Bocks' The Receptionist. (Bocks wrote The Thugs, which ran at PCS last year and was beloved by everyone but me.)

And more new work is gestating tonight and tomorrow night at a benefit for Portland Theatreworks:

This fundraiser for Portland Theatre Works starts on Oct 10th, 7:30 PM at Hipbone Studios where you will watch six short plays written by local playwrights. Audience members will bid to give their own first lines and last lines to their playwright of choice. The entire audience will pick three props to be used by all the playwrights, who will create these plays overnight! The new plays will be cast, rehearsed, and performed the very next day, October 11th, at 7:30pm again at Hipbone Studios. Madness, you say? Well it's this sort of madness that keeps body and soul together at Portland Theatre Works. Come to challenge us, create with us, celebrate with us, and give to us! $12 will get you in either night, or see both for $20. Our Friday night line-up includes Ciji Guerin's "37 cents", Ellen Kesend's "The Rain, The Goddamn Rain", Ed Reid's "Happy", Fancesca Sanders' "Disgruntled Tiny Tim", Marguerite Scott's "Not Me" and Nick Zagone's "Smoke Scenes".

Complete theater listings here.

A couple of weeks ago, The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration came out on DVD and Blu-ray. It's a five-disc set, with all three films plus two discs of special materials. After watching the whole trilogy last weekend, I had a couple of realizations: The Godfather is amazing. The Godfather: Part II is mostly amazing. The Godfather: Part III is ten billion times worse than you remember it being. And, finally, Andy Garcia has a truly bewildering amount of chest hair. It's insane. You could lose a Robin Williams in there.

More thoughts after the jump, including but not limited to musings on Francis Ford Coppola's luck, how good Robert De Niro used to be, how Al Pacino Now looks less like Al Pacino Then and more like a dessicated, angry mummy who vaguely resembles what Al Pacino Then used to look like, and Sofia Coppola's crimes against humanity. Oh, and incest!

"I really can't stay..."

"But baby I got a fifth of whiskey so we can make some hot toddys and get naked and see what happens when the booze kicks in as we lounge by the fireplace and... Oh yeah, it's cold outside."

Well, the weather has turned chilly. It's that first glimpse of the cold season ahead. And though you might be depressed 'cause you keep tracking dead leaves into your living room, which frankly makes the place look like a dump, you can always turn that frown upside down with delicious booze. Let me help!

Tomorrow, from 1pm until 4pm, out at good ol' Edgefield, the fine fresh fellows from Portland's micro distillery community will be sampling their wares. If you haven't had the opportunity to enjoy a little Martin Ryan vodka or Trillium Absinthe Superieure, then this is your moment. There will be a handful of distillers hanging about pouring your booze of choice into little plastic cups. But don't get cocky! I assure you, those little shots add up and you could wind up shit-faced before you know it. If you happen to go, and you should, tell 'em I sent you. And if you want to get educated before you drink, then check out my slowly growing series of articles dedicated to this amazing local movement. Oh! And make sure to ask the folks from New Deal if they have a sample of a cocktail they refer to, loosely, as the "31". You'll love it! Unless you're allergic to pineapple like my dear wife, Kitty, in which case you'll go into anaphylactic shock and too bad for you....

Earlier this week, I posted about the Heathman throwing a chocolate dinner and Saturday tea with acclaimed San Francisco chocolatier (like mousecateer, but a bit sweeter), Michael Recchiuti. Yes, the menu looks amazing, but you might blanch at the $78 price tag (the tea event is only $35). If you're not rushing to the phone to call the Heathman and make a reservation for tonight's dinner, but would still like to have a taste of the action, I got your back.

Taste a sample of the chocolate dinner and enjoy a bonus cocktail after the jump!

But I did want to share a conversation I was rampantly eavesdropping in the coffee shop just now, on my way back in for our last interview of the week.

Guy: "I'm just going to focus on raising my daughter for the next six months without a salary."
Girl: "It's just such bad timing."
Guy: "But what can you do? There's nothing else out there right now."
Girl: "You could always move back to Michigan with your folks."
Guy: "And kill myself?"
Girl: "I just wish this could have happened in our 30s, you know? When we're more established. Not in our 20s when we're just barely scraping by."

People are being fired all over the place! People with daughters, who might have to move back to Michigan! The end of the world is coming! Aghhhhhh! If you've heard similar stories, I'd be interested in hearing them. Or of course, if you've got something more uplifting to share, I'm all ears.

However, there's still time to get your tickets to what many consider to be the most entertaining night of the year. Presale tickets are only $10, and I would really advise you to get yours soon because PIZZAZZ almost always sells out! So be a smarty pants, and GET YOURS HERE, NOW! (Or at the Wonder Ballroom ticket office, if you prefer.)

See you next Friday, October 17 at PIZZAZZ! -- It's a cornucopia of fun and freakiness!

These pink and white sprinkled marvels were the snack-time item of choice during my parched, southwestern, tow-headed kidhood. I remember, after long afternoons of clambering over the lightning hot playground equipment, coming inside with dirt on my face and chowing on circus animal cookies—washed down with lukewarm milk, of course. There was something delightfully malicious about viciously biting the head off of a blush colored bear. Or drowning a vaguely lion shaped cookie beneath the froth of my milk until it softened to mush between thumb and forefinger. I don't think I have a single memory of eating these things in a polite or dignified manner. All I remember are crumbs, and trying to scrape off the frosting and sprinkles with whatever baby teeth I still had hinging around in my head.

These cookies were the fuel for playground shenanigans. They are inextricably linked to memories of a broken collarbone, a first kiss in the tree hut, and being thrown into the brambles from a madly spinning merry-go-round. Lord knows they were not healthy. I doubt that any modern pre or elementary school would dare to serve them now, for fear of some overprotective, mad-eyed mother, swooping down with foaming maw agape: "You served my child WHAT!? Don't you know he's lactoceliacautisticalifragilistic!?"

Also, you should really take a look at his video for "Molten Light," which appears on his new Soft Airplane album. Seriously, look at this:

Holy crap.

VanGaalen is also a visual artist; he did all the drawing and animation in this video. It's one of those things that I utterly do not comprehend, yet I find absolutely spellbinding.

Go here to read the full conversation.

Goddamn. Fincher's next film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, comes out on Christmas Day.

Thanks to Ezra for the heads up.

UPDATE: Never mind. Nike yanked it. Because it makes perfect sense to keep people from seeing a really great ad that makes your company look really cool, apparently.

via buzzfeed

But the point is: Over here in the USA, we may have totally wack leaders that admit to making decisions (like starting wars) based on conversations with God, but at least Jesus doesn't charge by the minute. LS

I am a wee bit obsessed with these genie-style pant from Paul & Joe Sister. Wee bit.

Be sure to hit up MOD for coverage of PFW as it happens...

Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making that state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.

The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut's civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Want to help keep it as three states with equal marriage rights? Donate to No on Prop 8, to help folks in California battle fear-mongering ads ("schools will teach second graders that boys can marry boys!!") and keep their fair-minded law on the books. The latest polls show Prop 8 ahead; defeating it will go a long way toward helping Oregon eventually secure full marriage equality. (Bonus: If you contribute more than $25 to No on Prop 8, Savage Love's Dan Savage promises to personally respond to your request for his advice. See here for details.)

Indeed it is.

This "Jolly Rancher green" 1996 Impala is a really something--although it sort of looks like the Incredible Hulk threw it up--and while I'm a little confused on why the gentle, if not downright goofy, Outlaw went with the whole airbrushed evil skull shooting the playing cards motif, I'm just jealous that this isn't on the trunk of my car.

The car is the work of Brian White from Big Wheels (of Ocala, Florida), who is responsible for pimping the respective rides of NBA players Larry Hughes, Zach Randolph, and the absolutely glorious ride of former Blazer Darius Miles. White informed us that he is working on a new "candy red" ride for LaMarcus Aldridge as well.

But enough about all that, Outlaw's green machine has it's own video: Enjoy!

Marino's opponent, Larry Galizio, suggested we check out this website, too. "He's a phony," says Galizio.

Harsh words.