This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Drunk Hate the Smoking Ban?
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Wed, Jan 7 at 11:50 AM
Probably not as much as this guy:
William Gary Wahl was booked into the Jackson County Jail for "reckless burning" after he allegedly destroyed a No Smoking sign at a Southern Oregon club called The Office. According to police reports, Wahl lit a cigarette in the club before being told he wasn't allowed to smoke due to the statewide ban. Wahl then allegedly became belligerent and moved to the bathroom to enjoy his nicotine fix. After a bouncer found him, Wahl put his lighter to the No Smoking sign in protest.
Shit yeah! That sign won't bother anyone ever again!
Big Up's to AllenInk
Politics Barack Obama Loves Your Three-Legged Puppy
Posted by Eli Sanders on Wed, Jan 7 at 11:50 AM
Another reason for those sky-high approval ratings:
Kinda hard to hate on a guy holding a disabled puppy with only three legs!
Via Ben Smith.
News Good Morning, News!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Wed, Jan 7 at 9:05 AM
Israel stops bombing Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid! Wait… this just in… they're bombing again.
After a secret backroom meeting, suddenly Democrats are more than happy to welcome the tainted Roland Burris into the Senate. And Obama had something to do with it?!?
In 2009, the federal deficit is expected to hit (gulp) $1.2 TRILLION.
New suspicions are being raised about the death of John Travolta's son Jett. Let the internet conspiracies begin!
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is suing his nephews for putting their family name on inferior porn. (What? Did they forget to bleach the buttholes? Sorry about that.)
A soldier is killed in a bar fight because he played Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" on the jukebox. An overreaction? Watch this video before you make up your mind.
Games Hearst Corporation Acquires, Murders EGM
Posted by Earnest "Nex" Cavalli on Wed, Jan 7 at 12:37 AM
Need proof that not even the bullshit profession of writing about videogames for a living is impervious to the current economic Ragnarok? EGM (aka Electronic Gaming Monthly) was shuttered earlier today after parent company Ziff Davis offloaded its videogame division to the Hearst Corporation.
Solid numbers on just how many EGM staffers were handed walking papers are still trickling in, but I can most certainly testify that an informal poll of those I know at the magazine indicates layoffs on a massive scale.
Additionally, 1up.com — the online network component of Ziff Davis' gaming division — is to be merged with Hearst's UGO.com network, effective immediately. It's currently unclear what content will carry over from 1up, though I do have word that all of the site's multimedia content (read: podcasts and video blogs) have been canceled.
Normally I'd try to end a post like this on a joke, but I'm a bit too nervous that the shambling corpse of the U.S. economy may soon be clawing at my door. As I load my shotgun and hack my staircase to splinters, I'd like to remind my employers that not only do I work cheap, I also look great in a mini-skirt and pumps and have no idea what the words "sexual harassment" mean.
Edit: Altered headline. Original wording made it seem like William Randolph Hearst had returned from beyond the grave to devour media outlets. As far as I'm aware, the dead have yet to rise in anything other than fanciful metaphor.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Artsy PCS@Twitter Update
Posted by Alison Hallett on Tue, Jan 6 at 4:55 PM
I blogged about Portland Center Stage's Twitter-friendly performance of Apollo last week, and if you didn't catch the thoughtful comments on the post from Michael Rohd and Bob Hicks, as well as the response over at Culture Shock, check 'em out. Now here's a logistical update from PCS:
For members of the general public who want to tweet the show, here's how it'll work.
1. They will need to be following pcsghost on twitter.
2. We'll release the announcement about the "tweetup" performance, and the first 20 people to rsvp will receive a $10 balcony seat and an authorized twitterer pass with the info they'll need to tweet the show from inside the building
3. After those 20 tweet authorized spots are gone, we'll offer $10 off tickets to remaining twitterers who'd like to join us for the pre-show tweetup and see the show, which they are welcome to tweet about later (but not during the performance).
3. We'll ask all twitterers to hash tag their tweets with #apollo while they are in the building so that the outside world can follow their progress on twitter.com.
Film A Franchise is Born
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Tue, Jan 6 at 4:32 PM
In a shocking revelation today, it was revealed that the second film in Ned Lannamann's Chowder Dick series (based on a classic dialogue by Ezra Ace Caraeff) was given up to the artistic control of Patrick Alan Coleman.
Coleman, for his part, is the director of today's Blogtown hit Cheesy Lines. Chowder Dick Two has already begun filming, and based on leaked scenes from the film, appears to be an artsy, black and white affair. It's said that Coleman borrowed heavily from his real life interactions with Lannamann:
Food Old Spaghetti Factory fer Cheap
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Tue, Jan 6 at 3:26 PM
Something about the words "old," "spaghetti," and "factory" just don't seem to go together for me—these are three things I wouldn't want to enjoy all at once. But for some reason, the name has not kept Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory from staying open (and birthing a franchise) for the last 40 years.
I must admit that I suffer a bit of cognitive dissonance when I consider that the other landmark Italian restaurant in Portland, Genoa, is now closed after 38 years, while the Spaghetti Factory keeps pumping out the pasta. I know you can't really compare the two... But still...
At any rate, in order to celebrate those 40 years in business, all Old Spaghetti Factory locations will have a special $3 menu tonight. The menu includes items like the standard spaghetti with rich meat sauce for $2.95, along side five other entrees. Included in the price are salad, bread, and a scoop of spumoni. Not a bad deal at all.
Go. Eat a sad and celebratory dinner.
TV My New Favorite Show: Gimme Gimme Octopus!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Tue, Jan 6 at 2:28 PM
Sure, Battlenerd Gaspastica is returning on January 16, and Lost is back January 21—but F-bomb them! I have a new favorite show—a 25 year old Japanese kids program entitled "Kure Kure Takora," which loosely translates to "Gimme Gimme Octopus." See, it's about this octopus and his friend… I think it's a gourd or maybe a peanut… and they meet up with a computer who eats garlic, and… OH! I almost forgot about the ghost with a butcher knife, and… ah, screw it. Just watch.
Want more? Yes, you do. GO HERE!
City Hall And So Sam Adam's Tenure Begins With a Tap Dancing Saxophonist
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Jan 6 at 1:52 PM
Last night, City Hall was a circus. No, seriously. Clowns, stiltwalkers and acrobats navigated among the ample crowd that turned out for Sam Adam's "Come Meet Your New Mayor and City Council" party. There was free beer, free cheese squares and (perhaps) more importantly, Adams and newly-elected councilwoman Fritz spent the whole two hour event talking with anyone who could snag their attention, from real estate developers to, yes, the tap dancing saxophonist.
The downstairs of City Hall was transformed into a stage and mingling-area and people crowded the second and third floor railings to get a good view of the action. Miranda, a spandex-clad acrobat in a group called Kazum (that's her splayed out in the air below ), said she voted for Fritz but couldn't recall exactly why. "I read about why I should vote for these people and then I forget all about them afterwards," she said. Echoing a similar sentiment, the MC of the night joked that this was the first time anyone in his troupe had been in a City building not wearing handcuffs. Will the motley arts and culture crowd be coming around City Hall more often now that Adams is mayor? It's hard to keep policy exciting post-election. Especially when its competing for constituents' attention against, say, fire juggling.
The scene in Amanda Fritz's new corner office on the second floor was much more sedate. A steady stream of constituents made their way through her door to congratulate her on the election and put in their two cents on her priorities. After she chit-chatted with a former OHSU workmate (it's still up in the air whether Fritz can even volunteer at OHSU or whether that would violate rules against city councilors working outside jobs), the historic Old Town/Skidmore team showed up to arrange a meeting. Fritz is looking busy. She will likely have to cut many of her bureau's budgets by 20-25 percent. "We've got some really great services and programs, so how do we go about keeping them?" she asks. The first step, she says, is making city government more efficient. "Policies and procedures!" Fritz exclaimed. Her old job at the hospital involved very strict policies for almost everything. But as she's learning how to do things at the city, Fritz says the answer often is, "Some do it this way, some do it that way, or you can just make up a new way! I think there is a lot of time wasted."
Adams has asked that each commissioner come up with a "100 Day Plan" to lay out exactly what they want to focus on in the first hundred days of the new term. Instead, Fritz says she's come up with a "100 Day Question Plan" — a list of basic policy and procedure questions she wants answered within 100 days. The first question: "How do we get chairs? And paper?"
Drunk Drunk Drank?
Posted by Marjorie Skinner on Tue, Jan 6 at 1:49 PM
Last week at a New Year's Day brunch, we were lamenting how Sparks will never be the same, and someone brought up Drank. Then, it reappeared in my life yesterday when I read this week's NYT magazine article about the new drink, an herby, B.S.-y blend of Valerian root, rose hips, and melatonin that's supposed to "slow your roll" as the slogan goes.
“Purple drank” is itself a slang term — along with “lean,” “sizzurp” or just “purple stuff,” among others — for a mixture of cough syrup (particularly in a prescription-strength version that contains codeine) and soda, which is closely associated with the rap scene in Houston. The effects of this home-brew concoction are narcotic, and it has been associated with several deaths. None of which is a secret: a number of hit rap songs by Houstonians and other Southern artists have referenced the stuff — or the various hip-hop stars who have died of overdoses, dating back to the 2000 death of the producer DJ Screw. Lil Wayne’s lyrics have made multiple references to sipping syrup.This has attached some controversy to Drank, as well as to a rival drink called Purple Stuff, made by a different Houston company. “One of the most asinine things I have ever seen,” a public-health professor commented in one Houston Chronicle article that also included complaints from local religious figures and rappers. Not surprising, right? “I’m a little shocked” at the criticism, Peter Bianchi, the inventor of Drank, told me. “We’re not advocating drug use at all,” he continued, but merely offering an innocuous beverage to anyone who feels a little stressed out — carbonated counterprogramming, as it were, to the firmly established “energy drink” category.
I've written to Drank to see if there are plans to distribute anywhere in the Portland area—currently it's mainly available in the South, plus there's a distributor in Las Vegas—and I'll let you know what I hear back. The article makes it sound like the company could have just as easily pandered to the kombucha crowd, but the owner's experience as a researcher of the beverage market for private investment banks led him to go more of a Vitamin Water route. I kind of want to try the "anti-energy drink," even though Consumerist declared it "not worth it." (Like, duh.) I still want to see for myself what this grape soda-flavored garbage is all about. Has anyone on Blogtown had the pleasure?
I was going to embed the Keri Hilson feat. Li'l Wayne video which ends with Hilson sippin on Drank, but annoyingly the embed has been disabled, so go watch it here. I really like how the very last shot of her, right after her shameless shilling through a straw, is her throwing up her hands and shrugging sheepishly. Also, just to clarify, Drank does not contain any booze.
Media Judge Rules O Must Pay Benefits To Former Employees
Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, Jan 6 at 1:26 PM
As you can imagine, it's rather exciting slash stressful, writing the Mercury's news section single-handed on a Tuesday, but I did want to take a few moments to post a press release from Rebecca Tweed, who handles media relations for law firm Lindsay Hart Neil + Weigler...
Portland, Ore-United States District Judge Michael Hogan ruled in mid-November of 2008 that The Oregonian must compensate former correspondents for ERISA benefits, regardless of their insistence that the writers were not employees with the paper. This is only one of 18 claims currently being brought against the newspaper powerhouse for similar instances. Elizabeth Barnard was a regional correspondent for The Oregonian at various times over a period of six years, covering parts of Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties. During that time, she was told she would not eligible for any of The Oregonian's benefits packages because she was associated by contract.The release appears timed to put pressure on the O to settle the other suits. But it's an interesting insight into the legal troubles one can get into while trying to run a newspaper.However, when Barnard filed for unemployment in May of 2005 after The Oregonian had terminated their contract, she learned The Oregonian had been paying unemployment taxes on her behalf. The state and later the IRS determined Barnard as an Oregonian employee. These determinations were part of the evidence before the judge when he made his decision in Ms. Barnard's favor.
"The Oregonian treated my client like she was an employee, but they wanted to find a way out of having to pay her like one," says attorney for the plaintiff, Glen McClendon. "They need to be held accountable for their actions and be made responsible to make this right."
The Oregonian's Director of Human Resources, Thomas Whitehouse, denied Barnard's requests for benefits numerous times, citing the contract with Barnard clearly stated because she was an independent contractor, she would not be eligible for employee benefits.
Judge Hogan's decision says The Oregonian's treatment of Barnard was consistent with the common law definition of "employee"-maintaining ownership of written pieces, discretion in content, work time requirements, reimbursement for travel and expenses, and so on.
"If The Oregonian wants their writers to act independently, then it should allow their writers to work independently, but it's clear that they want ownership over their time and material," says McClendon. "We're thankful these clients will be getting the respect and the compensation they deserve for their hard work."
There are 17 other claims being reviewed by the court right now. According to the attorneys for the plaintiffs the compensation for benefits could range anywhere from $30,000 to $400,000, depending on how long the correspondents worked for The Oregonian. The rulings on other cases are expected in early 2009.
News / City Hall / Politics Blackmer Resigns As City Auditor
Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, Jan 6 at 1:11 PM
The Tribune has the scoop. I thought he looked despicably sheepish as I nodded hello to him on the way downstairs at City Hall two hours ago...
Good luck in the future, Gary.
News / Portland Cross-Cultural Adoption Crusader Continues
Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, Jan 6 at 12:52 PM
Carollynn Smith, the 60-year-old North Portland grandmother fighting the Department for Human Services for custody of her two youngest grandchildren, is leading a meeting to discuss cross-cultural adoption at 126 NE Mallory on Monday, January 12th, at 6:30pm.
"We're calling all grandparents in to hear their stories about how their grandchildren have been taken away by the Department of Human Services, and how we can take on the DHS," she says.
Food / Drunk / Film When Blog Posts Collide
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Tue, Jan 6 at 12:01 PM
Yesterday, Ned Lannamann "directed" a film based on an office conversation through the awesome xtranormal text-to-movie website. At the same time, I was judging a cheesy pick-up line contest to give away a Tillamook Cheese Cookbook.
Today, I have combined the awesome power of these two posts to bring you a film directed (more skillfully than Mr. Lannamann, I might add) by moi, through the text-to-movie process, with dialogue made up entirely of cheesy pick-up lines that were submitted yesterday.
Behold the anus-clenching pathos and ennui of Cheesy Lines:
I'll take my Academy Award in non-sequential hundred dollar bills, please.
Food Barack's Got My Back
Posted by Patrick Alan Coleman on Tue, Jan 6 at 10:31 AM
Whatever happens over the next four to eight years, I know that Barack Obama will keep the food critics in his heart. Why? Because he's done a little food criticism himself, and on the Tee Vee no less! A forgotten 2001 episode of a Chicago cable access program entitled Check Please features then Senator Barack Obama speaking with blissful reserve about the beautiful, drowse inducing powers of the johnny cake.
Turns out that Barack and I share a dining philosophy: "What I'm looking for is food that tastes good, for a good price."
It's good to know that there's a serious eater in the White House. Maybe I can finally get that leg up from the government that I've been hoping for.
Props to Babble Sauce and Best Week Ever
TV Why Has This Woman Never Heard of the Foot Brush?!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Tue, Jan 6 at 10:10 AM
Are your feet KILLING you? Well, they're killing me, because of their STINK. Finally there's a product that can solve both of our problems. It's the FOOT BRUSH. Simply squirt some suspicious goo onto the brush, and rub the stink right off your feet. Plus your footsies will be so invigorated, you'll feel like dancing all night in the co-op's rec room. THANK YOU, FOOT BRUSH!!
Tips to Everything's Terrible!
News Good Morning, News!!!
Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, Jan 6 at 9:12 AM
THE ROSE CITY MESSIAH!!! As Sam Adams takes office, Portland's media appears to be pondering the difficult dilemma of whether to spit, or swallow. This week's Mercury is out on Thursday, in case you're curious which way we go.
NEW CIA BOSS!!! And he's a "surprising" choice, according to the New York Times.
MADOFF SAGA!!! And to mark the blissfully un-self-aware occasion, the former editor of Self magazine writes about losing her life savings to Bernie Madoff for The Daily Beast. Today, she is forced to eat, gasp, Popeye's Chicken. Meanwhile, ABC reports there's a bid to revoke his bail.
BUSH THE CONSERVATIONIST!!! He may be destroying the planet, but at least three huge swaths of the Pacific will be named after the old bastard.
ELECTRIC SHOCKS!!! Former Guantanamo detainee speaks out about his treatment, plans to sue the United States.
POLANSKI WANTS VENUE CHANGE!!! Claims, through his attorneys, that the entire LA judicial system is biased against his motion to dismiss underage sex charges filed against him 30 years ago.
NYT ADS COST $75,000!!! And yet they re-mortgaged their new offices recently? A change of management is in order, methinks...
KIDS AGED SIX AND SEVEN ELOPE!!! Bless their cotton socks.
Good day.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Games Introducting Paul Robertson, God's Gift to Pixels
Posted by Earnest "Nex" Cavalli on Mon, Jan 5 at 9:13 PM
Is there anything Australians can't do? Yes, they're all descended from rapists and warlocks, but over the last few centuries they've produced both Paul Hogan and Yahoo Serious — a feat only matched by Norway, for a short period in 1982.
Paul Robertson, one such downunderner, has consistently put America's finest neo-retro, pixel-based, action short auteurs to shame over the last few years, and his latest effort — a faux ad for the faux energy drink Syke — is no exception:
And in case you missed Mr. Robertson's previous videos, I've included those below the jump. Click below to witness Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 and Kings of Power 4 Billion %.
Continue reading "Introducting Paul Robertson, God's Gift to Pixels" »
City Hall / Politics Adams: "How's the Murphy Bed business?" Shopkeeper: "The Murphy Bed Business is closed."
Posted by Matt Davis on Mon, Jan 5 at 5:22 PM
And that's how the mayor's tour of St.Johns businesses began this afternoon—with a surprising conversation with the recently unemployed director of the St.John's Boosters, Gary Boehm, who became unemployed on December 16th after the Murphy bed store he's managed since March last year went out of business.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Gary," said Adams, evidently taken aback.
"That's okay," Boehm responded. "Hey, I can do you a really great deal on a Murphy bed."
Perhaps he won't even need it. It's communities like St.Johns that might be giving Adams some sleepless nights over the coming months, as Portland's City Council faces a "60 year recession" and the prospect of having to make some controversial budget cuts, just as city residents and businesses feel the squeeze more than ever. Of course, you'll probably still be able to buy a "donut designed to look like dirt" in our "quirky" little city, but it may be of little comfort to many...
This afternoon's tour was, in Boehm's words, "a symbolic visit," by Adams, "to show that he cares about small businesses." There are over 44,000 small businesses in Portland, and Adams plans to pass an economic stimulus package to support many of them soon, although the details are still unclear.
Having lunched at the Ladybug coffee shop around the corner (Adams ate a marinated tuna sandwich, some curried vegetable soup, and left half his Yukon gold fries, but then again, he did tell the Mercury on Saturday that "I'm trying to lose weight..."), Adams stopped in at the defunct Murphy store before setting off on his tour of area businesses. First stop? Weir Cycles, where Adams talked with local residents like Bonnie Meltzer, who voiced their concerns about "so many empty buildings that have been empty, in some cases for five years, that are a detriment to the growth of the area."
Adams said St.Johns is in a difficult spot, because unlike other areas of town, it hasn't benefited from Tax Increment Financing through the Portland Development Commission, and has had to fend for itself. "I think in other neighborhoods we're able to help more," he said. Another resident asked if he planned to close the cops' North Precinct, a cost-saving measure that was only narrowly averted by Tom Potter in his last term. Adams ducked the question, saying he was planning to "kick the tires on everything" before any cuts are made. Then, it was down to the basement to meet with Ira Ryan, who runs a custom frame-making business. Cue a Sam Adams/Portland version of the "kissing a baby" shot:
More St.Johns business nightmares after the jump. Meanwhile, are you coming to Adams' party at City Hall? It started at five, and runs 'til seven. Coughprobablyfreebeercoughcough.
See you there.
Film Hollywood Theatre Gets a High-Five From Sundance.
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Mon, Jan 5 at 5:14 PM
Local film news: The Hollywood Theater just got designated a "Sundance Art House Project Affiliate" by the Sundance Institute, an organization that attempts to "build audiences and develop a supportive national community of theaters committed to independent film."
Kudos to the Hollywood for the honor, but whatever: I'm selfish, and am thus more concerned about how this will benefit me. As for the effects we Portland cinephiles will see from this designation, things seem limited, but promising: The Hollywood will play the Sundance Institute Art House Project Shorts Program, a "specially selected series of short films from Sundance Film Festival," and the theater's managers will be able to attend the pretentiously named Art House Convergence, "a rare opportunity for these cinemas to network and discuss successful marketing, programming and business models as well as current issues facing independent theaters." So: Short-term we'll see some short films, and long-term, the Hollywood might benefit from being part of a larger, Sundance-approved network of good indie theaters.
The full press release is after the jump. In related news, Robert Redford is devilishly handsome. Look at those baby blues!
Continue reading "Hollywood Theatre Gets a High-Five From Sundance." »
Books Is It Too Late for a Best-of List?
Posted by Alison Hallett on Mon, Jan 5 at 5:05 PM
It might be. I wasn't going to do one, but then I realized that in not posting a list, I'd be depriving you internet folk of the opportunity to weigh in. And it's really about all you. So here, in no particular order and with very little forethought, are some books that I liked in 2008.
Lush Life by Richard Price
Price's masterful cop drama drew inevitable comparisons to The Wire, and justly so.
The Flying Troutmans by Mirian Toews
Toews is a frank and likable writer, and her empathetic rendering of the road-tripping, dysfunctional Troutman family made me want to read every book she's written. (That impulse led me to A Complicated Kindness, which is even better than Troutmans, and highly recommended.)
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
A stodgy, tightly controlled novel about a stodgy, tightly controlled Dutch man. Also, 9/11, cricket, and grown-up love affairs.
Paper Towns by John Green
I am aware that this book was written for 12-year-olds, but I found Green's account of a young man coming to terms with the basic humanity of the girl he loves to be hilarious and insightful. Perhaps that reflects poorly on me.
Northline by Willy Vlautin
If you haven't yet read local author—and Richmond Fontaine frontman—Willy Vlautin, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
Dangerous Laughter by Stephen Milhauser
Dense and hilarious; handily the best short story collection I read all year. (Though to be fair I am still working on The Boat.)
"Alas" by Brian K Vaughan
While it was hard to see Vaughan's Y: The Last Man series end, this issue was a fitting conclusion. Erik says it good here.
How Fiction Works by James Wood
Better titled How James Wood Reads—and I felt like a better, more attentive reader after finishing it.
Resolutions for the New Year: Read more nonfiction. Read more poetry.
OK, your turn.
Film / Media I Am a Brilliant Movie Director
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Mon, Jan 5 at 4:47 PM
Thanks to the web-based application Text-to-Movie, available on the Xtranormal website, I am now an excellent director of animated features. How did I do it? Well, first you need to write a script.
Here is the marvelous and compelling script I wrote, based on a real conversation that happened today at the Mercury office.
SCENE 1 EXT DAY
X: I want soup for lunch.
Y: I prefer chowder.
X: No! Soup is better, dummy.
Y: In fact, you could even call me a "chowder head." Ha ha ha!
X: Shut up, chowder dick.
Then all you do is enter your script into the little boxes, choose the actors, select some camera angles, and add a pre-selected soundtrack (I choose "Funky guitar high hat.") And voila! After a few minutes of such clicking, here is my masterpiece:
It's that easy! Move over, Pixar. Click here to make your own! (In order to "publish" your movie and have others see it, you will need to register w/your email address.)
(Link via Metafilter.)
Politics Move Over Democrats! We're Hopping into Bed!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Mon, Jan 5 at 4:09 PM
WOOT! Hey, look! We made Jeff Mapes' Oregonian politics blog for climbing into bed with the Democrats! SEXY.
After Willamette Week jumped out of bed with the Democratic Party of Oregon, the Portland Mercury was quick [to] take the place of its journalistic rival.The Mercury is now cosponsoring an inaugural night bash with the Democratic Party and waving aside any concerns that it is compromising its journalistic integrity.
"We're an alternative paper and we make a promise that we're going to be accurate and fair," said W. Steven Humphrey, the paper's editor. "So if the Republicans ever manage to elect an awesome president, we'll sponsor their party too."
Willamette Week editor Mark Zusman said he didn't know about his paper's plans to co-sponsor the party until I called him about it last month. He quickly pulled the plug on the event and WW even made itself "Rogue of the Week."
"For journalists, getting in bed - or appearing to get in bed - with any Party (with a capital P) isn't just plain wrong," WW said as it flagellated itself. "It's downright unethical."
Unethical or no, ME LIKE TO DRINK. And me also like to drink to our newest and most awesome president ever, Barack Obama (he's a Democrat… right? Not that I care). Anyway, be sure to join us (oh, and I think the Democratic Party might be there too) on January 20th as we celebrate Obama's inauguration at the fancy-pantsy Oregon Inauguration Victory Ball at the Tiffany Center Emerald Ballroom, as well as the somewhat less fancy, but probably twice as fun Change Is Here Dance Party at Holocene!
Tell you what: Anyone who thinks it's unethical can stay home.
Drunk Spotted on Craigslist!
Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Mon, Jan 5 at 3:34 PM
Free Cher Doll (Portland)
Reply to: see below
Date: 2009-01-04, 7:37PM PSTI inherited this from my aunt, its a cher doll from the 1980's. I think its from her "Turn Back Time" Video. Im just not a big cher fan so I have no use for it. Call Me singing a cher song and its yours
Cristian
503 734 0520
Please, people! No pushing and shoving!
Tip o' the hat to Jay!
Film / Tech / TV I Like to Call It "Three-Delightful"!
Posted by Erik Henriksen on Mon, Jan 5 at 3:28 PM
Despite the fact I spend a fairly big portion of my time in them, I'm not really a huge fan of movie theaters. I really like seeing movies on a big screen with good sound, sure, but (A) tickets are too fucking expensive, (B) the blaring, nonstop advertising at chains like Regal Cinemas makes me want to strangle myself, and (C) I swear to god, don't get me started on why 90 percent of people still can't figure out how to shut up or stop texting for two goddamn hours. (Seriously, some dude was even texting through Let the Right One In at the Living Room Theaters on Saturday afternoon. "OMG vampir is like a kitty!!!!") And yes, I realize this is making me sound like a cantankerous, grumpy, out-of-touch old man, but hey, that reminds me—shut your ungrateful pie hole and get the hell off my lawn. Go watch your 30 Rockefeller on your fancy little empty-four eyephone, you little shit.
ANYWAY. Curmudgeonly bitching and moaning aside, I know I'm not alone in disliking elements of the contemporary moviegoing experience, especially since at this point, any half-decent HD TV has more or less eliminated the gap in presentation quality between watching something at home and watching something in most of Portland's theaters. And so we arrive at the much-ballyhooed promise of 3-D—which studios and theater owners have been hoping for years will once again make people excited about paying to sit in dark rooms with strangers. “I believe that this is the single greatest opportunity for the moviegoing experience since the advent of color,” Jeffrey Katzenberg rhapsodically gushed to the Times back in 2007. "It will become another consumer choice, like premium or regular gas," James Cameron told Business Week. "The premium experience of 3D will be the preferred viewing experience for action, animated, fantasy, and science fiction films."
Maybe Cameron's right—films like Bolt, Beowulf, and everyone's favorite, U2 3D, have apparently done well enough to introduce the format to moviegoers, and Cameron's own 3-D mega-opus, Avatar, comes out in December—and if you don't think that's gonna change things, you might want to revisit the intersections of technology and box office demonstrated by Cameron's Titanic and Terminator 2.
Anyway, 3-D—whether you like it or not—is now heading into your home, too. Hit the jump for the details on the 3D ad for Monsters vs. Aliens that'll air during the Super Bowl, plus news on the 3-D television sets debuting at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Vegas.
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