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EDITORIAL Managing Editor for News Brent Walth Arts & Culture Editor Martin Cizmar Staff Writers Andrea Damewood, Nigel Jaquiss, Aaron Mesh Copy Chief Rob Fernas Copy Editors Matt Buckingham, Jessica Pedrosa Stage & Screen Editor Rebecca Jacobson Music Editor Matthew Singer Projects Editor Matthew Korfhage Books Penelope Bass Classical Brett Campbell Dance Aaron Spencer Theater Rebecca Jacobson Visual Arts Richard Speer Editorial Interns Ravleen Kaur, Paul Kiefer
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I am not persuaded this is a clear-cut matter that requires a criminal process [“A Visit From the TriMet Squad,” WW, Oct. 30, 2013]. TriMet police are going a bit too far, and this response is disproportionate. I am prepared to give a latitude to Lane Jensen, to the extent that he has raised some reasonable concerns. What I find impressive is that the political leaders and other relevant decision-makers at TriMet seem little interested to politically engage and cultivate Jensen. They appear to want to beat him down and swat him. The longer-term success here is to bring him around as constructively as they can. Without doubt, it would be hard work, but it would demonstrate leadership. These kind of people do not disappear. Even after this process comes to an end, his frustration will remain. TriMet reminds me of a lot of other large institutions that do not feel they have to be accountable. This arrogance does not serve our community well. —“Tulio” Being annoying is not a crime. —“tdhurst”
THE COST OF BEING A SPORTS FAN
R FAMILY TO YOURS U O M O R F
Your recent article [“Who Needs Chalupas?”, WW, Oct. 30, 2013] could have been better titled “Who Needs a Budget?” Decent seats, parking, game program, eats and drinks—you need a down payment and terms. Portland is notorious for being a low-wage, high-cost-of-living kind of town for anyone who’s survived here awhile. When the Timbers
jumped to MLS, they effectively priced me out of the “futbol” market. All major-league sports are increasingly for the haves rather than the nots. Who wants to burn $100 (or more) to take a girlfriend to one regular-season game? Wages are stagnant, living-wage jobs scarce, the economy sluggish. My point is, this article would be better suited for the Lake Oswego Gazette [sic], or some such yuppie rag. Still, it was somewhat interesting to read how people are willing to throw away their money for very little in return. The Blazers aren’t going anywhere with a group of recycled journeymen. The coach and general manager are great, however. I think a new owner would be a better step toward a future championship. —“Starvin’ Marvin”
CORRECTION
Last week’s story “A Visit From the TriMet Squad” incorrectly stated several details of blogger Lane Jensen’s text messages to TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt. The messages he sent June 12 were to Altstadt alone, not to several managers; he sent them every 30 minutes, not every five minutes. When Jensen texted Altstadt again Oct. 15, a transit police officer questioned Jensen the same day, not the next day. Jensen claimed he obtained Alstadt’s home phone number from TriMet documents. His blog claimed he found it in a news story unrelated to TriMet. WW regrets the errors. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Fax: (503) 243-1115, Email: mzusman@wweek.com
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Recent studies have shown that over 93 percent of drivers with darktinted side windows are either drug dealers, pedophiles or repeat sex offenders. Why don’t the police arrest these deviants and make the community a safer place? —Citizen for a Safer World Recent studies have shown that approximately 53 percent of the reader questions I receive are, like this one, batshit insane. Normally, I ignore them. But what if half of my readers are genuinely unhinged? I’d be remiss if I didn’t address their concerns once in a while. Accordingly, Citizen, here’s your answer: As you know, in 1918, the Freemasons joined forces with 1,000 tiny biting men to create daylight saving time, a plot to steal time itself by rotating breakfast through four spatial dimensions. By 1995, this shadowy cabal had skimmed enough space-time off the calendar to create a second Thursday in every week of hockey season. “Huzzah bebop!” cried the All- One- God
Kennedy-Hitler Axis, massaging its gums. (Also, Obamacare.) Now all the Illuminati needed was a way to hide themselves from the soul-stealing microscopic camera drones controlled by the International Conspiracy of People Watching You and Laughing. I think you can guess the solution they devised. That’s right: Behind the tinted windows of every lowered Hyundai you’ll find a member of the Trilateral Commission snorting space-coke off the ass of a three-breasted Martian hooker. With this final obstacle out of the way, the whole nightmarish plan will reach its unholy apotheosis on July 5, 1998. Mark your calendars. “July 5, 1998?” I can hear the sheeple bleating. “Surely that date came and went 15 years ago!” Yes, I don’t doubt that’s what They told you. You can believe what you want, but the wise among you will keep your heads down, stay away from mirrors and reflective surfaces, and continue to hoard zinc. And stop calling me Shirley. QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com
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POLICE: More troubles for a troubled Portland officer. MEDIA: WW Publisher Richard Meeker tells all. COVER STORY: One year in, whither Mayor Charlie Hales? CITY HALL: Charlie Hales defends his record.
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The long-awaited findings of an Oregon Department of Justice criminal investigation into former Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen’s affair with former county staffer Sonia Manhas are nearly complete. WW has learned that part of the reason the investigation is taking so long is that investigators looked into alleged illegal drug use by Cogen. WW has confirmed the DOJ quescogen tioned Cogen’s associates about his alleged drug use based on information from a witness. Cogen—who in July said he welcomed the DOJ investigation—has refused to speak to DOJ investigators. His attorney, Janet Hoffman, declined to comment, as did the DOJ. At the Oregon State Bar’s annual meeting Nov. 1 in Wilsonville, delegates were scheduled to vote whether to support same-sex marriage. But so many delegates left the gathering early that the bar could not hold a binding vote. That failure angered members of OGALLA, the LGBT Bar Association of Oregon. “OGALLA and many members of the Oregon State Bar were very disappointed that the delegates didn’t have the chance to support marriage equality,” says OGALLA co-chairwoman Trish Walsh. Walsh says she hopes the bar will take another crack at the issue.
From the department of shameless self-promotion: Longtime WW co-owner and Editor Mark Zusman was inducted Nov. 1 into the University Oregon School of Journalism and Communication’s Hall of Achievement. Zusman, poet and author Madeline DeFrees, and Roberta Conner, who runs the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton, were honored for “their outstanding accomplishments and exceptional contributions to the field of journalism and the communities in which they live.” Read more Murmurs and daily scuttlebutt.
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W W S TA F F
The campaign to legalize marijuana in Oregon next year is turning into a big-bucks effort. The group New Approach Oregon has reported spending nearly $100,000 on the lobbying firm Oxley & Associates and has hired high-profile political consultants Mark Wiener and Liz Kaufman to run a 2014 ballot measure should the Legislature fail to refer legalization. This week, Phil Harvey, who parlayed a fortune made in porn to become one of the world’s largest nonprofit purveyors of birth-control devices, became the latest tycoon to ante up, giving $50,000 to New Approach Oregon.
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sheri smith
NEWS
ONE COP’S EXES AND UH-OHS AN OFFICER ALREADY UNDER INVESTIGATION FACES DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE ALLEGATIONS. By An d r e A dA m e wo o d
adamewood@wweek.com
A Portland cop under an internal affairs investigation for allegedly tampering with jurors also faces two formal misconduct complaints—filed by two ex-wives. On Nov. 6, the city’s Citizen Review Committee will review an allegation that Jason Lobaugh, a 22-year veteran of the Portland Police Bureau, threatened to beat up one of his ex-wives and her new husband at her home last November, according to sources familiar with the case. The complaints, along with other police reports obtained by WW, show that Lobaugh, 46, has been investigated multiple times over the past 13 years for alleged threats and acts of physical violence against members of his own family. Lobaugh did not return multiple calls and emails for comment. As WW has reported, Lobaugh is already under investigation for talking himself up to potential jurors in a theft trial in which he was going to be a witness. He told jurors in the courthouse hallway that “the detective on this case is outstanding,” referring to himself (“Tamper Tantrum,” WW, Sept. 18, 2013). Since 1995, the city has received 16 tort claims that name Lobaugh, and nearly all cite use of excessive force. In a 2007 claim, witnesses said they saw Lobaugh taser a young black man and kick him after he was on the ground. Lobaugh was also investigated in 2000 by his own department for alleged use of GHB, an illegal narcotic associated with the use of steroids (“Officers, Not Gentlemen,” WW, June 29, 2005). Lobaugh was never charged. The Police Bureau’s policies say any cop accused of
domestic abuse will be flagged in its “early warning system” and must face an internal investigation. An officer arrested for domestic violence cannot return to work until cleared by a psychological threat assessment. Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson says internal affairs “thoroughly” investigated each claim against Lobaugh, but bureau policy prevents him from disclosing whether Lobaugh was ever disciplined. Lobaugh was promoted to detective in September 2012, and was still in his probationary period when he allegedly tampered with jurors. Last month, he was returned back to his job as an officer and has been assigned to the telephone reporting unit—a desk job where troublesome cops are often parked. The nine-member Citizen Review Committee is a volunteer branch of the Independent Police Review Division of the City Auditor’s Office. The committee reviews complaints and makes recommendations, but has no authority to take action against an officer. Lobaugh’s ex-wife, Laurie Grant, filed the complaint involving an altercation between her new husband and the officer this past summer, appearing before the Citizen Review Committee on Nov. 6. WW also uncovered a 2008 incident in which Grant called police, claiming Lobaugh kicked her son. The 17-year-old stepson told Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies that he and Lobaugh got into an argument. The teenager says Lobaugh told him, “I’m gonna kick your ass.” Lobaugh kicked him in the lower back with his bare foot, according to the sheriff’s report. Lobaugh told deputies he merely “booted him in the butt” and didn’t cause an injury. No charges were filed. Grant and the stepson also told police Lobaugh had once thrown boiling water and rice in Grant’s face. “I asked [Laurie] about [Lobaugh’s] temper. Laurie told me, ‘He just
triggers,’” wrote Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Upton in his report. “She said he is like this all the time.” “He still harasses us,” Grant tells WW. “He’s still a threat. We don’t feel safe in our home.” Lane Judson, whose daughter was killed by Tacoma Police Chief David Brame in a 2003 murder-suicide, speaks to police departments across the country about domestic-violence prevention. He’s been invited by Lt. Jeff Kaer to speak to Portland cops two times, he says. “They need a policy put in place that says, ‘You will not do domestic violence,’” Judson says. “‘And if you do, you’ll lose your job, lose your badge, lose your gun and probably be out on the bread line.’” Rosaura Torres, who wrote Abuse Hidden Behind the Badge, says a “blue wall” exists where officers protect one another before the victim. “They blame the victim,” Torres says. “This cop, he’s going to call them crazy, he’s going to call them liars.” A second formal complaint against Lobaugh is now before internal affairs. A Clackamas County Sheriff ’s Office report says another of Lobaugh’s ex-wives, Nicole Gibson, called deputies when Lobaugh showed up at her Milwaukie home in July to pick up their teenage daughter. Deputy Peter Robinson wrote that Gibson had legal custody of their daughter for the summer, and Lobaugh had no right to take her. “Lobaugh began showing signs of aggression and stuck out his chest,” Robinson wrote. “I could tell he was angry, and his face turned red.” Lobaugh left with parting words for his fellow law enforcement officer. “As Lobaugh walked away,” Robinson wrote, “he said, ‘Fuck you very much.’” Gibson tells WW the incident was another sign of Lobaugh’s “horrible temper.” She can’t believe Lobaugh is still a cop. “If I’d done the things he did,” she says, “I’d be arrested. I’d be in jail.” Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner says the domestic-violence allegations against Lobaugh are part of his personal life. Turner says he considers the alleged behavior “not socially acceptable” but that Lobaugh didn’t break the law. “He doesn’t have an anger problem,” Turner says. “He has a problem picking wives.” Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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annual report
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
NEWS
To our readers: Since 1983, when Mark Zusman and I formed City of Roses Newspaper Company, I have written a column each year on the occasion of Willamette Week’s anniversary. The idea is to keep you, our most important stakeholders, abreast of what we’re up to, particularly in the context of the larger world of Portland media. Here we are again. This week begins WW’s 40th year. For those of us who work here, this place is about the lasting value and personal rewards to be found in a life committed to journalism. We seek nothing less than to change the world. We want always to be seeking to make Portland and Oregon better. We also want to serve as a helpful, knowledgeable guide to this wonderful place we all call home. As we tell you every week in WW’s staff box, our mission is to provide you with an independent and irreverent understanding of how your worlds work so you can make a difference. With so much changing in the media, our mission has never wavered. Any discussion of the news business in Oregon has to begin with the changes at the state’s biggest paper. The question I hear most often these days is pretty stark: What in the world is The Oregonian up to? And that’s followed by: How does WW plan to respond? When our daily ceased to be a delivered daily more than a month ago, it did so not for journalistic reasons, but for financial ones. Reducing home delivery to four days a week saves millions of dollars. So does laying off senior staff. And so does the contemplated sale of the paper’s building at 1320 SW Broadway. Curiously, no other newspaper company in America is emulating the model being followed by The Oregonian’s East Coast owners. Media giants like The New York Times and smaller, local outfits like The (Bend) Bulletin and Medford Mail Tribune are putting up online paywalls to generate new revenue. At still other media companies, owners are amping up staff and news coverage with the goal of building audiences and revenues. Still, it would be a mistake to discount The Oregonian these days. Yes, it’s a fraction of what it once was, and it’s gotten rid of an invaluable cache of institutional memory by laying off so many experienced staffers. But the paper remains the biggest and richest newsgathering organization in the state—The O’s revenues in an average week or two match WW’s in a year—and its editors are recruiting a new generation of journalists, some of them sure to be real stars. How does WW respond? Simple. Stick with what got us here: innovation, counterintuition, and a lot of hard work. This week’s cover package on the job performance of Mayor Charlie Hales offers a prime example of the WW formula at work. Led by managing news editor Brent Walth, our reporters—Andrea Damewood, Nigel Jaquiss and Aaron Mesh—continue to produce truly excellent accounts of everything from the escapades of Rudy Crew to the appallingly bad judgment behind the Columbia River Crossing. Add to that freelancers like Rachel Graham Cody (“Miracle on 135th Avenue” and “Expel Check”—both about local school districts), and you see why WW maintains such a
media outlets here than in just about any other similarsized market—and we are all fighting over a smaller addollar pie than would be found in most cities this size.
high degree of respect in serious journalism circles. In our Arts & Culture section, I marvel at editor Martin Cizmar’s energy for this town, especially his adoption of the beer scene. Reviewers like Rebecca Jacobsen and Matthew Singer are without parallel. And designers Kathleen Marie and Amy Martin have given the paper and its special publications newfound graphic energy. WW has never had a larger audience. We reach more than 575,000 different readers and Web viewers each month. Our new mobile site, launched in the past month, has already added dramatically to our Web traffic. On the business side, the Great Recession is by no means over. While some papers have lost both readers and advertisers, it’s only in advertising that we have lost ground in recent years. Our most immediate competition for advertising comes not just from the Web—Facebook and Instagram and Google and Groupon—but also from The Oregonian, Portland Monthly with its glossy pages and advertiserfriendly contents, and The Portland Mercury with its bargain-basement advertising prices. Despite its laid-back exterior, Portland is an incredibly competitive market. On a per-capita basis, there are more
In this context, Mark and I have vowed to do everything possible not to cut back staff while continually seeking to upgrade our operations. As a result, when our fiscal year closes, WW will basically break even. (This excludes the performance of our events and our other news operations in New Mexico and North Carolina.) Next year, we’ll be rolling out a new strategy—supplementing regular issues of WW with glossy magazines and small-tab newsprint publications. And we continue to branch out into the events business, sponsoring Eat Mobile, TechfestNW and MusicfestNW, as well as smaller gatherings, like last Saturday’s Beer Pro/Am. Our greatest single innovation, about which I sometimes feel like a proud papa, may be WW’s Give!Guide. 2013 marks year 10 of this marvel, which encourages yearend giving, especially by those of you under the age of 36. In its first nine years, WW’s G!G has raised $7.3 million. This year, Executive Director Nick Johnson is shooting to raise the total to a cool $10 million. You can find a copy of this year’s guide inserted in this week’s paper. There you can read about 129 great local nonprofits (plus the Oregon Cultural Trust), this year’s four amazing Skidmore Prize winners, and our incredibly generous business partners. Thanks to Portland creative agency Grady Britton, the 2013 Give!Guide also sports a fabulous new website. We even have a new URL. So please be sure to visit giveguide. org and get a little loose with your credit card. In return, you’ll receive: great incentives, the knowledge that you’re a good and generous Portlander, and the great thanks of the incredible nonprofits you support. The most important thing we have going for us is you. We live—and thrive—in a community that cares deeply about our schools, about City Hall, about the businesses that operate in our neighborhoods, about our quality of life. We provide the stories, but it’s your passion for this place that provides the context for our work. As I say every year in this space: You are our reason for being. I hope this annual report will serve to bind us a little closer together. With your continued support and attention, we expect to grow and thrive in the years ahead. Thank you so much,
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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T N A L L A G & S U F GOO L L A H Y T GO TO CI ONE YEAR AGO, WE ELECTED CHARLIE HALES AS PORTLAND MAYOR.
DID WE GET A LOAFER OR A LEADER?
IL LU ST R AT I O N S BY KE NNETH H UEY W RITT E N BY AA R O N M E S H
amesh@wweek.com
It was a year ago that Charlie Hales waved to a cheering election-night crowd at the nightclub Holocene, embraced his landslide victory as Portland’s mayor and told his supporters he was ready to get to work. He held up a tool belt given to him by a supporter as a symbol of Hales’ readiness to start the job. “ We promised you action,” Ha les said. “A nd we will deliver.” But despite shouts from the audience—“Put it on! Put it on!”—Hales refused to wear the tool belt. A lot of people are now wondering if he will ever put it on. Hales won the mayor’s race after running a skilled campaign that placed him in stark contrast to the fractious city government led by his predecessor, Mayor Sam Adams. The promise of a Mayor Hales impressed voters (he got 61 percent of the vote) and a lot of us in the media. WW, after all, gave Hales our strong endorsement— twice—based on his maturity, executive experience and track record of big achievements, such as spearheading the rebirth of the streetcar in America. Hales inherited a financial mess and a mayor’s office that had not seen strong leadership for at least eight years. He took firm control of the city budget, filling a $21 million deficit, forcing bureaus to set priorities and cut fat. But since that work fi nished in May, it’s often looked 10
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
as if a different guy moved into the mayor’s office, one unprepared to lead and clumsy when he tries to do so. We spoke to more than 30 people who work for City Hall or regularly do business with it. Almost all are perplexed at how Hales has failed to articulate a vision for the city. Insiders—including some of Hales’ staff—say he has yet to take the necessary steps to fulfill his bigger campaign promises, including making police more accountable and collaborating with city commissioners. Some pressing problems—including homelessness and the Water Bureau—are festering. Even Hales’ boosters are getting frustrated. “He’s been caught up in reactionary circumstances,” says Vic Rhodes, who manages the downtown transit mall and donated $4,200 to Hales’ campaign. “The mayor’s office needs to set a clear agenda for the next three years, take charge and make it happen.” Adds Corky Collier, executive director of the Columbia Corridor Association: “Would I like to see more coming out of him? Sure. Everybody would.” In an inter view with W W, Hales offered a spirited defense of his first year, saying he has fulfilled the promise to get Portland government back to basics. But he also acknowledged he has done a poor job of communicating with citizens about what he is doing. (See interview on page 19.) “If I went out and knocked on four doors at [Southeast] 127th [Avenue] and Mill [Street],” Hales says, “and asked, ‘Is this what you’d like your mayor to do? Manage the
budget?’ I think most people would say yes. If people find out about how I’ve spent my time by results rather than by a photo op, I’m fine with that.” Since Election Day 2012, we have been struck by the two Charlies: the polished, confident planner, and the erratic and wobbly mayor. This got us thinking—where have we seen this phenomenon before? Romulus and Remus? No, too Latin. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Too bloody. Spock and Evil Spock? No goatee. Then it came rushing back—those hours spent idling in the dentist’s waiting room, thumbing through Highlights for Children, the magazine that gave us Goofus and Gallant. Those two cartoon characters exemplified stark differences in deportment and not-so-subtle lessons in behavior. There’s the distracted Goofus, who pelted birds with rocks, disappointed adults and disturbed his friends. Or Gallant, who made parents misty with pride with his determination to do the right thing. This motif may seem lighthearted, but the message is not. Hales can still pull his administration together and bring about fundamental change in Portland. It comes down to the existential choice Highlights for Children offered us all. Goofus or Gallant: Which one did we elect as mayor, and which one does Charlie Hales want to be?
CONT.
Gallant completes his chores. When he ran for office, Hales talked about creating jobs. One big promise: to start a city-funded credit union, called Community Credit Portland, that would give loans to small businesses. “Portland would be the first city in the nation to use its funds to support the growth of familywage jobs,” Hales told the Oregon Working Families Party during the 2012 primary. Once in office, Hales dispatched an aide to meet with a credit union about the idea. “I had one official meeting on the issue, and one follow-up,” says Noah Siegel, a former Hales staffer who was assigned to the project. “I wasn’t sure if it was a high priority for Charlie.” Apparently it wasn’t. Hales never asked about the plan again. The mayor’s first year is littered with such stories: ambitious or controversial goals Hales announced, then
As a candidate, Hales made schools a top priority. The mayor has no say over public education, as Hales well knew. But it plays well with voters. “As mayor,” his campaign said, “Charlie will do everything he can to help support our schools.” Hales went to Salem to make a pitch for more money for schools and organized other mayors to join him. As a candidate, Hales also pledged to support programs linking students to the workforce. In his first weeks as mayor, he cut a $395,000 package of grants for Worksystems Inc. The nonprofit offers summer internships to teenagers, often putting them to work for city officials. Most of the participants were low-income and minority teens. Hales terminated the contract without first performing the necessary political groundwork. The program’s supporters—including County Commissioner Loretta Smith and the Albina Ministerial Alliance—were furious.
Goofus leaves work for others to do.
abandoned. Hales says his determination to focus on the basics has meant he has put a lot of his more ambitious ideas on hold. “The best way to serve the citizens of this city is to do the basics well first and then start advancing innovations,” Hales says. “One of those basics is being able to pay the bills.” Everyone WW interviewed says Hales’ work on a difficult budget was the high point of his year. The mayor made significant trims, especially to the public safety bureaus— police and fire—once seen as untouchable. It’s harder to find anything he has completed—or made significant progress on—since. Hales pitched a “carbon tax”—a combination of gas tax and power utility tax—that he ditched once a phone survey showed voters disliked it. He pledged to turn all city
Gallant helps other children cross the street safely.
GOOFUS & GALLANT
streets into “complete streets” but admitted his plan had no funding. (A carbon tax could have helped.) Hales questioned the need for the city’s Office of Equity and Human Rights, one of Adams’ creations. Once elected, Hales assigned the office to himself and claims it’s made an impact on city hiring, although he couldn’t specifically cite how. “I think they’ve had a positive effect,” Hales says, “raising consciousness in the bureaus.” Hales also wants the city to find creative ways to spend—and save—money. In May, he announced a $1 million “innovation fund” to do just that. But the fund has not done anything. Why? The task force to run the fund still has no members. And that’s because Hales’ office has yet to make a phone call asking anyone to serve on it.
Goofus forgets he promised to help his friends stay safe.
Faced with criticism, Hales retreated. “We tried to save $400,000,” Hales spokesman Dana Haynes told WW, “and we didn’t.” It wasn’t the only time Hales landed on an idea, discovered it was radioactive, then jumped away. Hales appealed to East Portland, with pledges of more city services. He also promised to repair and patch 100 miles of city streets, tackling a maintenance backlog that had grown under Adams. Hales got a quick media victory in February, when he announced the city’s Bureau of Transportation would meet his paving goal. But Hales knew the city had no money for such a project. So he told his new transportation chief, Toby Widmer, to take money from other projects, including a six-block sidewalk project along Southeast 136th Avenue. Ten days after Widmer announced his roads effort, 5-year-old Morgan Maynard-Cook died after being hit by
a car while trying to cross Southeast 136th Avenue. The fiasco made Hales look heartless—perhaps unfairly. As Rep. Shemia Fagan (D-East Portland), who criticized Hales, put it, “It shouldn’t take a little girl’s life to make it happen.” The sidewalk and Worksystems cases were surprising because Hales came to office with decades of political experience. Still, the mayor says, he learned important lessons. “Think it through,” Hales says. “Part of the freedom I feel in this, my last office, is if we make mistakes, reverse them and try to find the right path. Now, you can’t do that every week. You can’t be backing up over yourself every week. But I don’t mind learning as we go.” Hales found $2.1 million for the sidewalk project, protected his plan to repair streets and is on track to meet his pledge. CONT. on page 13 Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
11
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CONT.
Gallant warns other kids about the hornets’ nest Hales pitched himself to voters as a veteran of government and business. After all, he had spent years as a lobbyist, a decade as a city commissioner, and another 10 years as an executive with the engineering firm HDR Inc. His experience, he said, taught him to avoid distractions. “There’s going to be stuff coming over the transom all the time,” he told WW days before his swearing-in. “This week it’s fluoride, next week it’s school safety. But I’m going to focus relentlessly on a few things.” Ten months later, Hales has identified few large-scale proposals. He points to his work on police reforms, school funding and bracing the budget. “We’ve made real headway on all three of those,” he says. But he’s also struggled to stay focused. Hales’ staff members tell WW the mayor rarely gathers his team to discuss his agenda. His staff responds to that day’s crisis while Hales shifts from one enthusiasm to another. He tried to solve the chaotic weekend bar scene in Old Town by creating an Entertainment District. The city routinely closes streets to cars and has installed portable
Hales pledged in his campaign to soothe rancor between the city and other local governments and make the City Council a collaborative “board of directors.” “You get more flies with honey than vinegar,” Hales told WW before taking office. “I will make sweet contact with a lot of other decision-makers, because we’ll need them.” Hales deserves credit for shaking up city bureau assignments, forcing commissioners to relinquish calcified roles. But he acknowledges he has not done well when it comes to working with colleagues on the council. It’s another surprise, given that his 10 years as a commissioner should have made him keenly aware that this promise of collegiality was important to keep. “I haven’t met my own experience about being a good colleague at very turn,” Hales says. “I’ve tried to practice that. But I haven’t always been as collaborative with my
Goofus throws a rock.
urinals. Many bar owners, other businesses and residents have found Hales’ fix caused more problems. Howard Weiner, chairman of the Old Town/Chinatown Community Association, says the plan has reduced crime but hurt business. “The street closures have been an advantage to alcohol outlets that cater to large crowds,” he says. “It hasn’t been successful for anybody else.” During the mayoral campaign, Hales pledged to do something about new, large apartment buildings being developed without onsite parking (“Block Busters,” WW, Sept. 19, 2012). Hales had supported the policy but later did an about-face. In office, Hales halted an apartment project on Southeast Division Street, then let it go ahead. The city enacted new parking requirements but didn’t solve the problems for neighbors. “He took a political process that was winding through, and made a real crisis,” says Tony Jordan, president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. “For somebody who came in saying, ‘It’s grown-up time now,’ it was strange to see him flip-flopping.”
“Let’s share the fine treats Mother made,” Gallant says.
GOOFUS & GALLANT
In June, he cracked down on the Northeast Alberta Street festival Last Thursday. It was overdue: The unpermitted and poorly planned 16-block bohemian street party had long spilled its sauced celebrants into surrounding homeowners’ yards. Hales sent a team of city employees to track public drunkenness and outdoor urination, prompting him to declare a 9 pm curfew. The nonprofit’s board quit, and Hales found himself personally in charge of the mess. In July, Hales led enforcement of the curfew, walking in front of a parade of street-sweeping trucks that chased out revelers. But nothing was solved. Drunkenness and fights have continued at the monthly festival. “There’s been a sincere and significant effort,” says Daniel Greenstadt, chairman of the Concordia Neighborhood Association. “I think the mayor’s office has learned it’s perhaps less trivial than they thought.” In September, Hales said he didn’t want to manage Last Thursday any longer.
Goofus takes the last cookie.
colleagues as I need to be, in order to have their willing partnership on things that need to be done.” Hales has weekly meetings with each commissioner, but he is otherwise aloof—even uncommunicative—with fellow elected officials. City leaders say they have learned to check their social-media feeds to learn about the mayor’s newest policy directives. Hales unilaterally decided in May to eliminate the city’s chief financial officer position. The CFO is a financial expert who keeps an eye on how the city handles money. Notably, Hales made this move after the previous CFO, Rich Goward, blew the whistle on mismanagement by the city’s chief administrative officer, Jack Graham. It’s not just that Hales “rewarded” Goward for his diligence by eliminating his job. Hales got rid of the CFO position against all advice, including that of City Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade and an independent auditor. City
Commissioner Nick Fish also criticized the move. Hales responded as he often has when criticized: He refused to comment for weeks. Under fire, Hales backpedaled, sort of, and came up with a half-plan: Put a panel of volunteers in charge of reevaluating the city’s entire financial structure. “I was trying to establish the principle that no one was safe from reducing overhead positions,” Hales says. “We’re having a debate about this. Companies reconsider their management structure all the time.” Sources inside and outside City Hall remain perplexed why a skilled executive won’t concede the importance of a financial monitor. “We’re a $3.6 billion municipal corporation,” Fish says. “We need a watchdog.” CONT. on page 14 Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
13
GOOFUS & GALLANT
CONT.
“Mother says we should not play ball in the house,” Gallant says. The Jack Graham episode exposed another hitch no one saw coming with Hales: He protects problematic employees. Hales arrived in office to a report on his desk showing that Graham in May 2012 tried to shuffle money illegally between bureaus to help ease a budget crunch. Hales didn’t just get rid of the whistle-blower, he tried to keep the whole thing under wraps, fighting a public records request sparked by The Oregonian to uncover what had really happened. Meanwhile, Hales shifted blame away from himself. “If I were to dismiss every city employee who worked on a shaky financial proposition or idea during the Adams administration and send them packing,” Hales said on OPB’s Think Out Loud in June, “we’d need to charter a couple of buses.” When Hales was forced to release documents in the Graham investigation, they showed Adams had nothing to do with the mess. Hales later apologized to Adams. This was not the accountability Hales had promised, nor did it look like Hales the mayoral candidate, who summarily fired his campaign staff after the 2012 primary. He started his term by axing transportation director Tom Miller, and telling newspapers he would personally evaluate
other bureau heads from the Adams years. He hasn’t fired or demoted any of the other 25 bureau or department directors. Hales promised to reform the Police Bureau and appointed Baruti Artharee, a respected leader in the African-American community, to be his police liaison. It was a bold step, given the strife the bureau has historically generated in the city’s black community. Artharee was in charge of tracking changes being imposed on the police by the U.S. Department of Justice. But people involved say he was ineffective and skipped meetings. Artharee quickly distinguished himself by publicly humiliating County Commissioner Loretta Smith at a June event for Office of Equity director Dante James. Artharee, at the microphone, spotted Smith among the attendees and said, “Mmm, mmm, mmm, she looks good tonight.” Hales had to visit Multnomah County offices to apologize to Smith, who was furious at Hales’ refusal to fire Artharee. “I want Baruti Artharee right next to me,” Hales said. “Who better?” Three months later, Artharee quit. Hales as a candidate pledged to transform the Police Bureau. WW reported Nov. 1 that Hales’ office was close to reaching a deal between the U.S. Department of Justice
Gallant accepts criticism and sees it as a way to learn from his mistakes. Hales showed during the campaign that he’s flexible enough to change direction when it’s required. But his time as mayor shows he can be brittle and counterproductive when it comes to people telling him he’s wrong. His budget cut $117,000 from a Janus Youth Programs effort that tries to prevent child prostitution. Janus officials testified against the cuts. When they met the mayor in May, Hales berated them for blindsiding him, The Portland Mercury reported. When he ran for office, Hales made a promise about utility bills: “Lower water and sewer rates and improved basic services for every neighborhood.” It was a tough promise to keep, as debt for water and sewer projects grows. But so has frustration at how Water 14
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
Goofus: “If we break something, we can blame my little brother.” and the Police Bureau and its union, the Portland Police Association, over use of excessive force against the mentally ill. Hales has also moved to dismantle the commanding officers union, which has stood in the way of disciplining top brass. But he’s made no move to keep his biggest promises: expand community policing and do away with the so-called “48-hour rule,” which allows officers involved in shootings to avoid answering investigators’ questions for two days. Getting rid of the 48-hour rule, spelled out in the police union contract, was a major campaign promise. But Hales now tells WW he doesn’t think he can do it. “It’s unclear how we’re going to get there,” he says. Hales refused to meet last month with the Independent Police Review Division when it proposed a rule that would let the civilian investigators directly question officers. On Oct. 28, Griffin-Valade, the city auditor, yanked those code changes off the council agenda. She said the City Council “essentially broke faith with the Department of Justice and breached the public’s trust that police accountability in Portland is taken seriously by city leaders.”
Goofus throws a tantrum.
Bureau money has been spent on pet projects, such as building a demonstration “Water House,” and subsidizing the Rose Festival. Hales raised rates 4.8 percent. He tells WW that was a big win for ratepayers given that the increase was scheduled to be 14 percent. Some companies that pay the city’s biggest utility bills launched a ballot initiative to wrest control of the city’s water and sewer bureaus from City Hall and give it to an independently elected board. In June, Hales invited representatives of the large water users to City Hall—including ringleaders from Portland Bottling and Siltronic. He yelled. He pounded on a table. He called the business owners “political ter-
rorists,” and threatened to destroy their movement. Several people were stunned, and others found Hales’ behavior bizarre. “He was literally out of control,” Siltronic vice president Tom Fahey told WW in August. “I’ve never seen him that angry. I’ve never seen him or heard him be that loud.” Asked about the meeting, Hales seemed freshly rankled. “I spent the last 10 years working for a corporation, so I know what a hostile takeover looks like,” he says. “These clowns decided to carry out an act of political terrorism. That’s what I called it in that meeting, and that’s what it is.” CONT. on page 16
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Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
15
GOOFUS & GALLANT
CONT.
“Let me help you to a shelter, Homeless Joe,” Gallant says. A defining event of Hales’ first year in office was his sweep of the homeless from Portland’s sidewalks, parks and underpasses. No one saw it coming, not from the mayoral candidate who said he’d cook Occupy Portland a pancake breakfast, and who talked in soothing tones about the city’s commitment to helping people living on the street. Hales promised that, as mayor, he would lead other governments and private donors in a joint effort to find more money for shelter and care for the homeless. At an East Portland Chamber of Commerce debate last fall, he praised homeless-aid groups: “I think those nonprofits need more resources, more support from us all.” Hales notes that his budget protected existing funding for social-services programs. But he says that’s not to be confused with the need to deal with “lawbreakers” camping on the sidewalks. In July, a street kid attacked a 70-year-old Portland Outdoor Store employee with a skateboard, while a group of homeless protesters outside City Hall’s front door heckled officials so persistently that Hales and city commis-
16
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
Goofus: “Don’t ask nice people for quarters, you bum!”
sioners started using another entrance. Hales’ response was the roughest treatment of the homeless since the dark days of Mayor Frank Ivancie in the early 1980s. He hesitated for a month to use the city’s camping ban—then employed it only where he’d heard the most complaints from businesses. The sweep began at City Hall but soon spread. Police arrived at a sidewalk outside a soup kitchen to haul away mattresses and bedding. They told residents of a makeshift cardboard-box-and-tent city next to the Eastbank Esplanade they had 24 hours to pack their belongings. Hales decided to make sure protesters wouldn’t return to City Hall by inviting food carts into the front courtyard where protesters had been sleeping. Social-services advocates and Multnomah County officials—who help fund many programs to help the homeless—say he didn’t consult them. Nor did he offer any plans or incentives as part of his sweep. Hales didn’t have an aide assigned to lead those issues, and his office spontaneously assigned one to the job in the middle of a staff meeting.
“It just caught us off-guard,” says Street Roots executive director Israel Bayer. “If you’re going to bring the stick, you have to bring the carrot.” The lack of strategy continues to make matters worse. In September, City Commissioner Amanda Fritz announced a deal to move the Old Town homeless camp Right 2 Dream Too under a bridge in the Pearl District— a move Hales endorsed and helped to broker behind the scenes. In doing so, the city created its second homeless camp on public property—without any long-term plan. Pearl District residents and developers were livid—and Hales changed course only after real-estate developer (and major Hales campaign contributor) Homer Williams offered to find another site. Hales stands by his approach. He says he now wants to work with Oregon legislators to develop a larger strategy. “We can’t be on an island of better services in a state of denial,” Hales says.
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CITY HALL N ATA L I E B E H R I N G
NEWS
effective. We’ve changed the environment around the city’s principal public building. Citizens feel like they can come there and not be scared.
CHARLIE HALES THE MAYOR DEFENDS HIS FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE.
Mayor Charlie Hales drove himself to WW’s offices this week in a city-owned Prius. He admitted he was still a bit woozy from jet lag: He’d just returned from a weeklong trip to China. But Hales snapped awake to make an energetic defense of his first year on the job. He talked about doing yeoman’s work on the budget; spats he wishes he’d handled differently; the big plans he has for Southeast Portland; and, his No. 1 priority at the next legislative session: mental health. His grade for his own performance this year? Hales gives himself a B. WW: People say you are not moving fast enough on big ideas or your promises. Charlie Hales: It wasn’t just, “Charlie spent five months on the budget and got it done.” No, no! We’ve gone from a $21 million deficit to a $14 million surplus in six months. Find another American city who’s done that. How do you assess the success of the effort to move homeless people camping near City Hall and in other parts of the city? The situation of lawlessness on the sidewalk got pretty acute this summer. It got acute around City Hall. It got acute when a meeting planner from Kentucky, whom I talked to, came to check out Portland and got assaulted. We had people having sex out on the sidewalk and selling drugs right outside City Hall. There are two related but separate issues. We’ve made some progress on the sidewalk safety issue and not anywhere near enough progress on the homelessness issue. Did you get off on the wrong foot on homelessness issues by starting with a sweep? Public safety is not the wrong place to start. It was very
Where are the homeless supposed to go? Exactly! That’s why we need more services and more shelters. This council made it its top priority last summer to go to the legislative session and say school funding is No. 1. This session the council needs to go there and say, “Stay there on school funding, but get serious about mental health.” A huge percentage of the folks we deal with on the streets and call homeless are more than just homeless. You are considered someone who looks at Portland and says, “I want to change the city’s face.” What can we expect? We haven’t seen you identify big projects. In the first week in office we told the Planning Bureau to get going on planning [around] the [Portland-Milwaukie] light-rail line that’s already under construction. We were shocked to find out that the station-area planning hadn’t started. There’s a huge opportunity there for the next big thing, like the Pearl District. Does the public know you’re excited about that? Probably not. We haven’t done well enough to communicate our larger, long-term plans to the public this year because we have been out of necessity pretty engaged in managing the city. Are you surprised people in and around City Hall wonder why you haven’t done more? A little. During the campaign I described City Hall as a hothouse. There are small things that seem important there. One thing about this trip to China: It helped reinforce there are big-picture, directional things that really matter when you’re a leader. Leaders there are making big-picture, directional decisions, some of which I disagree with vehemently. It’s just a reminder there’s big stuff and then there’s everything else. You’ve got to keep putting your effort into the big stuff. What’s something you haven’t done you wish you had? We’ve been spotty in our collaboration with the other elected offices in the city. I’m going to do more management by wandering around. I’m going to make sure that my staff is in constant communication with the other four
commissioners and the auditor. You’d think you’d know to do that, given you spent 10 years on the City Council. We didn’t practice that, not because of delusions of imperial grandeur, but because we have a lean staff. We didn’t always remember to confer. What’s going to be different three years from now when your term is up? We will start to see things blossoming on the east side at both ends of the center city. Maybe there will be a new Southeast community center. Something will be happening at the site of the Memorial Coliseum. I don’t know what, but I am unmoved by the prospect of spending a bunch of public money to patch that thing together and just have it limp along for another 20 years. Memorial Coliseum is an example of an issue you knew about when you took office. Yet today you’re out asking people to offer ideas. Other city administrations have had three ideas before breakfast and not managed the city terribly well. I’ve had a deliberate approach: First, put the house in order, then entertain more visionary agenda items. The public will come with us to a bold Portland future if the basics can be counted on. If the neighborhoods are safe and we’re not afraid to call 911. If there’s a great public school down the street, if the streets are paved, if the city is in sound condition. And then people will come with me. We’ve been disciplined to a fault. There was a meeting in June when you lost your temper at large water users who want to take control of the Water Bureau away from City Hall. Why? We need to get rid of this act of political terrorism in the form of a corporate takeover of the Portland Water Bureau. It falls to both me and Commissioner [Nick] Fish to run a campaign against that piece of mischief. Would you handle it the same way again? I might yell louder. No, I’m teasing. I probably would be a lit tle more diplomatic. But when you’re dea ling w ith a deliberate act of sabotage, sometimes an aggressive approach is warranted. That really pissed me off. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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SCOOP GOSSIP’S BOSS GAVE IT A HAWAIIAN…PIZZA. TOTALLY TubuLAr: It took two tries, but Portland finally holds the world record for the longest floating tube chain. Last week, Will Levenson of the Big Float got official word from Guinness World Records that the July 5 event set the record for “Most People in a Floating Line.” A group of 620 tubers joined hands on the Willamette River to break the record previously held by the Italian city of Viareggio, which gathered 542 tubers in 2008. Levenson, co-owner of Popina Swimwear, founded the Human Access Project to promote swimming in the Willamette. There’s more information about the Human Access Project on page 53 of today’s Give!Guide insert.
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NO MAN IS AN ISLAND: Some pizza places celebrate their anniversaries with a coupon. But Phil and Lauren Geffner, brother-sister co-owners of longtime shop Escape From New York Pizza, are taking their entire 13-member staff on vacation to Hawaii in honor of the pie-slinger’s 30th year. They did the same thing for the 25th anniversary. “We went on a boat last time to see some manta rays,” says Phil, “but they didn’t show up. So maybe they’ll show up this time.” The Geffners have kept in touch with most Escape veterans over the years, so while the current staff is snorkeling or taking a helicopter ride this month, ex-employees will keep the shop running. “To my mind, you’ve got to be grateful,” Phil says of the trip. “You look at your life and you go, ‘That’s 30 years. That’s a long time.’ Who PHIL GEffNEr would’ve ever thought 30 years?” LITTLE bIGGEr burGEr: The Blue Pig Cafe closed its location on Southeast 20th Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard last week. The brunch spot’s previous location on Division Street became Nick Zukin’s Mi Mero Mole when it moved three years ago. This time? Hot on the heels of Micah Camden’s opening of Boxer Ramen in the West End, sources at Camden’s Little Big Burger have confirmed that the local chain is in talks to open a seventh location in the Blue Pig space. >> Dwayne Beliakoff, former owner of closed restaurants Roux and Violetta, is listed as manager on a liquor application for a to-be-named bar and restaurant at 4703 N Lagoon Ave., formerly Swan Island Pizza. The business would be co-owned by Jonathan Cobbs of the Bitter End Pub (currently closed) and Jenna Kiker. They plan to install video lottery machines. THE PrO-EST AM: Let’s have a hearty round of applause for Sasquatch Brewing, which won the top prize at the first Portland Pro/Am beer festival Nov. 2. Hillsdale’s Sasquatch teamed with homebrewer George Dimeo, a certified cicerone and 18-year employee of Maletis Beverage, to make a vanilla bourbon creme ale flavored with oak chips soaked in Evan Williams bourbon and served on nitro. The brew took first place with both festivalgoers and judges. As for the fest? We’ll let The Oregonian’s John Foyston, dean of Portland beer writers, sum it up: “I heard from a lot of people yesterday at Willamette Week’s inaugural Pro/Am that this was one of the nicest festivals they’ve been to, and I agree.”
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WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK IN ARTS & CULTURE
I SPY PRINTDUSTRIAL
THURSDAY NOV. 7 SONG OF THE DODO [THEATER] Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s adaptation of Richard III was one of last season’s most arresting shows. PETE’s next work is a collaboratively devised piece of dance, theater and song. A short video features company members tiptoeing around in frilly white dresses—and another of them squatting and squawking wildly. Expect a unique sight. Studio 2, 810 SE Belmont St., petensemble.org. 7:30 pm. $12-$40. BEER AND SAUSAGE DINNER [FOOD] You ever realize when you eat sausage you’re putting intestines in your stomach? Just saying. Anyway, gas up at the Bent Brick on a major cold-plus-hot mess of beer and sausage, including five beers from beer-a-week-forever marathon brewers Breakside Brewery, including its new sour framboise The Bent Brick, 1639 NW Marshall St., 688-1655. 6:30 pm. $50. 21+.
FRIDAY NOV. 8 TAVI GEVINSON [BOOKS] Gaining more fame at age 12 than most bloggers will ever have, Tavi Gevinson’s Style Rookie blog nabbed her a profile in The New York Times and invitations to fashion weeks across the globe. After shifting her focus to feminist discussions of pop culture, she founded the online Rookie Magazine, like a Jezebel for teens that grown-ups love too. Q Center, 4115 N Mississippi Ave., 234-7837. 7 pm. Free. CLAUDE VONSTROKE [MUSIC] Dirtybird Records has lately drifted toward house music’s Ibizahappy mainstream, but its founder remains as freaky as the label’s winged, googly-eyed logo. The new Urban Animal features elements of the classic, “weird” Dirtybird sound: eclectic, choppy sampling, highbrow rhythms and that goofy bird printed right onto the record itself. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $15. 21+.
CAN YOU FIND THESE ITEMS...? Message in a bottle
Pica ruler
St. Johns Bridge
Stapler
Streetcar ticket
Hand counter
Printing press
Oil can
Lucky horseshoe
Scout book
Ampersand
Quoin key
Bunny on a bike
Caution reversed
A pipe-smoking printer
URBAN EXPLORERS: Discover hidden craft presses and binderies in a one-day open-studio crawl in the Central Eastside Industrial District.
PRINTDUSTRIAL is Saturday, Nov. 9, from 11 am-4 pm. Download a map at iprc.org/calendar/printdustrial
THE ERIC ANDRE SHOW LIVE [COMEDY] The Eric Andre Show is one of the strangest damn things on Adult Swim—and that’s saying something. A Bizarro World take on the no-budget public-access talk show, it features Florida-born comic Andre stumbling through sketches and interviews with celebrities both real and terribly faked, with little mind paid to continuity, logic or traditional notions of humor. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., 248-4700. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
SATURDAY NOV. 9 WESLEY STACE [MUSIC] John Wesley Harding, the brainy British expat singer-songwriter, has just pulled what’s known as “the full Mellencamp,” dropping his entire Dylan-cribbed nom de plume in one fell swoop. It’s a fitting change, given that his new record drops pretense as well, offering nakedly personal songs of a sort he has not attempted before. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 7:30 pm. $17 advance, $20 day of show. 21+. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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BULA
By JORDAN GREEN. Editor: MARTIN CIZMAR. Email: dish@wweek.com. See page 3 for submission instructions.
Beer and Sausage Dinner
KAVA BAR
KAVA HOUSE
Hours: Tues-Wed: 1pm - 11pm; Th - Sat: 1pm - 1am; Sun: 3pm - 10pm
You ever notice when you eat sausage you’re putting intestines in your stomach? Just saying. Anyway, gas up at the Bent Brick on a major cold-plus-hot mess of beer and sausage, including five beers from beer-a-week-forever marathon brewers Breakside Brewery, including its new sour framboise. I mean, why should anyone stop with the beer and sausage in October? Beer and sausage is forever. The Bent Brick, 1639 NW Marshall St., 6881655. 6:30 pm. $50. 21+.
Cascade Brewing Gose Release
Experience Lebanese cuisine at its best Call us for your holiday party & catering needs! Belly dancing Friday and Saturday evenings
Sushi and Sake Lunch and Learn
Bamboo Sushi serves you sustainable fish while its chefs tell you information about nonsustainable fish that will make you feel bad about eating hem, along with info about sustainable fish that will make you feel good about eating them—while you’re eating them. Slow Food Portland hosts. Bamboo Sushi, 310 SE 28th Ave, 232-5255. 1-3 pm. $45 members, $50 nonmembers. 21+.
Karaoke 9pm nightly Hydro Pong Saturday night
SUNDAY, NOV. 10
I get HAPPY 4-6pm Tues-Fri $3 menu
Fun Indu Night!
Trash Fish Dinner
Dragon Lounge
Chinese-American Restaurant
2610 SE 82nd at Division 503-774-1135 Ho Ti
You know those people who line up for two days at the Apple store to get the iPhone 5.0012 beta version with a slowed-down Siri voice that sounds like Omar Epps? Well, there are beer people like that, too. And you’ll see them at Cascade Barrel House, lining up for the bottle release of its super-limited-edition Autumn Gose. You will get to buy it or not, I guess, depending on how late your boss makes you work on Thursdays. Bottles are $15, limited to six per person. Welcome to the new modern age. Cascade Brewing Barrel House, 939 SE Belmont St., 265-8603. 4:30 pm. Free entry.
SATURDAY, NOV. 9
223 SW STARK STREET PORTLAND, OR 503-274-0010 ALAMIRPORTLAND.COM
Tuesdstaryy:
Read our story: canton-grill.com
FALL STYLES
Wolf eel and sand dabs and skate wings, oh my. Yet more on the don’t-eat-the-wrong-fish front. Chefs Cathy Whims (Nostrana), Kevin Gibson (ex-Evoe, soon to be Davenport), Kelly Myers (Xico) and PJ Yang (Bamboo) cook up unpopular fish that didn’t even have the social clout to be hunted and then eaten—until now. Yay for unpopular, not-yet-overfished fish! This is a benefit for Chefs Collaborative, an organization devoted to sustainable food. Nostrana, 1401 SE Morrison St., 234-2427. 12:30 pm. $100-$2,500.
TUESDAY, NOV. 12 Lagunitas Beer Dinner
Persol
Ernest Hemingway
Nine West
Nicole Miller
Ray Ban
bebe
Optical Brokers
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EAT MOBILE
THURSDAY, NOV. 7
PORTLAND’S
bulakavahouse.com 3115 SE Division St.
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
INGER KLEKACZ
PUTTING THE PACIFIC IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
FOOD & DRINK
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
Wine people are spoiled, because people actually make food specifically to go with their wine. Well, beer can play that game, too. In four courses, even, with Lagunitas seasonals at Tabor Tavern. In case you were wondering, the Lucky 13 hoppy red ale goes with lox and goat cheese, while the wheaty Sumpin’ Sumpin’ gets Brussels sprouts, egg and bacon. But the brown-cane-sugared Brown Shugga? It gets lamb and yam. Moral of the story is, we’ll have the Brown Shugga. Because we want lamb and yam. Because it rhymes. Tabor Tavern, 5235 E Burnside St., 208-3544. 7 pm. $45.
SHOYU RAMEN: And you eat it.
HAPA RAMEN October has to be the worst month to open a food cart. The cold and damp has set in, but it’s still five months until spring brings hordes of pale, undernourished diners out of hibernation craving egg sandwiches and rice bowls. If you’re going to open a cart in autumn, soup is the smart way to go. And if you’re going to specialize in soup, it should probably be Portland’s favorite soup. Which brings us to the just-opened Hapa Ramen, in the pod at Southeast Division Street and 50th Avenue, around the corner from the equally brave new So Cold cocktail cart that embraces the drizzle with Order this: Shaka bowl ($7.50). a hot cocoa cocktail and a toddy with apple cider and bourbon. Hapa is not yet a rival for Shigezo, Biwa or Yuzu, but it warmed me right up with a fusion of Japanese and Hawaiian ramen made with frozen noodles ordered from the islands. My favorite dish was the Shaka bowl ($7.50). In fast-paced Japan, Shaka is served in two parts so diners don’t have to wait for their soup’s broth to cool before slurping. At Hapa, the noodles come cold topped with a halved soft-boiled egg and green onions. There’s also a dip cup—filled with a substance that’s not quite broth, not quite sauce—that’s thick, goopy and obscenely rich thanks to pork belly and shiitake mushrooms. Each forkful is an uppercut of umami. I also enjoyed the curry ramen ($7-$8), plump noodles topped with nibbles of crispy fried chicken and curls of shiitake mushroom that sit heavy even before you start spooning up the meaty pork broth. It is, perhaps, overkill. But if you’re launching a new cart this time of year, I imagine you play the strongest card you have. MARTIN CIZMAR. EAT: Hapa Ramen, Southeast 50th Avenue and Division Street, 560-0393, hapapdx.com. 11 am-8 pm Wednesday-Monday.
DRANK
RPM (BONEYARD BEER) We tend to think of beers as either consistent or flawed. Either it’s the same brew we fell in love with or there’s an interloper hiding behind a trusted tap handle. We forget that beer is an agricultural product, made with hops and barley that vary from harvest to harvest, and that better brewers also tinker with each batch. Which brings us to RPM IPA from Bend’s Boneyard Beer. I’ve heard people complain that RPM has changed since it took over tap lines across Portland. Yes, the beer has gradually dropped to 6.5 percent ABV from 7.0, says Boneyard brewmaster Tony Lawrence, and the RPM you find around town is often a little younger than he’d like. But Lawrence is pretty happy with the way he blended hop varieties from last season’s crop—and so am I. The current batch is the best Oregon IPA I’ve had in a long time, crisp and fresh with huge grapefruit and cannabis flavors. I’ve probably had 10 pints of it, and I’m not the type who orders the same beer twice. Recommended. MARTIN CIZMAR.
FOOD & DRINK B E T H L AY N E H A N S E N
REVIEW
Lavish Buffets of Indian Cuisine Exotic Dishes of Lamb, Chicken, Goat Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan Options
SPANISH SPREAD: Nuestras bravas (center foreground) with (clockwise) calamares negros, croquetas, mac ’n’ cheese with prawns, and burrata Ataula salad.
BRAVO BARCELONA ATAULA IS THE BEST WESTSIDE SPANISH JOINT IN A GENERATION.
through the menu. From the very first night, the food came out hot and timely and the service was relaxed and friendly. This was a positive omen. It was also a pleasure to learn that the rich brioche BY M IC H A E L C . Z US M AN 243-2122 and chewy coca bread used in several dishes are made on-premises. The simplest item on the menu turns out to be Let’s not call Ataula, the 3-month-old rookie venture from Barcelona-born chef Jose Chesa, a the most captivating. The nuestras bravas ($7) are “neighborhood restaurant.” To my ear, that’s code a twist on patatas bravas, a tapas-menu standard. for mediocrity, the kind of place you’d visit only In the updated version, the exterior of each potato square is mahogany-dark and if you happen to live nearby. crunchier than it has any right Ataula may be located on a Order this: Nuestras bravas ($7). to be. By contrast, the interior quiet side street in residential Best deal: Five dishes shared by two is so creamy and light, it almost Northwest Portland, but it is can result in a first-rate dinner for $20 seems liquid. I suspect technia top-notch spot for Spanish to $25 a person. cal magic but haven’t figured nosh that merits a trek from I’ll pass: Burrata Ataula. out the trick. With a generous more distant quarters. Ataula’s spiritual predecessor used to be just finish of milk aioli and piquant red bravas sauce, a few blocks away on Thurman Street. Longtime this is the potato at its best. Another top choice is Portlanders will remember Tapeo, the restaurant calamares negros ($8), bites of tempura squid that that introduced tapas to us locals and garnered at first glance look like small chunks of coal and WW’s Restaurant of the Year honor back in 1997. have a perfectly crunchy, grease-free texture. The spark is squid ink mixed with the batter. La Rusa What a long dry spell it’s been. Ataula, meaning “to the table” in Barcelona’s ensalada ($9) is a lightly dressed combination of Catalonian tongue, is a comfortable blend of Port- Dungeness crab, sliced fingerling potato and bits land-casual style and traditional Spanish tapas of olive served in a tuna tin. Mix it up a bit before with occasional modernist accents. You don’t consuming, as the dressing tends to settle. The next tier of dishes are both traditional order food at the bar, stand up to eat and throw your napkins on the floor as you might in Barce- and not, but collectively they reveal the kitchen’s lona—though Ataula does have a long, snaking strength and depth: classic tortilla de patatas sit-down bar where you could just stick to drinks, ($6), plump gambas al ajillo ($9; ask for bread to including straight-ahead Spanish cider ($5 a glass, soak up the garlic butter), salt-cod fritters known $22 for a wine-sized bottle), the Spanish sparkler simply as croquetas ($8) and pepito de ternera cava ($6 a glass, $24 a bottle) or txakoli ($39 a ($9), pulled veal breast served on a brioche bun bottle). The kitchen is open, beams and ducts are with havarti cheese and roasted green chilies. exposed, the chairs aren’t cushy and there is com- Each of these and several other dishes that may tickle your fancy will help to fill out your tapas munal seating aplenty at two long tables. Ataula’s menu maintains a tight focus on table. You may find one not to your taste—for me dishes you might find in a modern Barcelona it was grainy burrata ($10). Ataula brings a renewed focus on toptapas bar—no burgers, steaks or other culinary adaptions a la Toro Bravo. The emphasis on quality tapas that has been missing in Portland unadalterated Spanish specialties should be no for more than a decade. This neighborhood’s surprise given the chef ’s history: son of a chef, secret is out. culinary school at age 15, and gigs in MichelinEAT: Ataula, 1818 NW 23rd Place, 894-8904, starred kitchens in New York, Paris and Spain. ataulapdx.com. 4:30-10 pm Tuesday-Thursday, From several of these more private perches, 4:30 pm-midnight Friday-Saturday, 10 am-2 I’ve spent multiple evenings working diligently pm Sunday.
Namaste
Parkrose since 2009 8303 NE Sandy Blvd 503-257-5059 Vancouver since 2001 6300 NE 117th Ave 360-891-5857
NamasteIndianCuisine.com
GIFT CARD FROM ELEPHANTS DELI AT STREET CAR BISTRO AND TAPROOM AT BAR BAR/ MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS
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MUSIC
Nov. 6-12 PROFILE
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
JEREK HOLLENDER
Prices listed are sometimes for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and socalled convenience charges may apply. Event lineups are subject to change after WW’s press deadlines. Editor: MATTHEW SINGER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, go to wweek.com/ submitevents and follow submission directions. All shows should be submitted two weeks or more in advance of event. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: msinger@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6 Garland Jeffreys
[SINGER-SONGWRITER] Garland Jeffreys is a songwriter’s songwriter. That is to say, songwriters recognize his skill, even if he remains obscure to the general public. Working in a variety of genres—rock, blues, dance, reggae—since the early ’70s, the New Yorker has earned the plaudits of Bruce Springsteen and Lou Reed, but largely stayed a hidden treasure. Part of that is his own doing: This year’s Truth Serum is only his seventh album in 30 years. It’s a strong collection of bluesy, midtempo confessionals, affecting in the simplest and most understated of ways. MATTHEW SINGER. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 8 pm. $20 advance, $22 day of show. 21+.
THURSDAY, NOV. 7
Teen Daze, Camp Counselors, Philip Grass
[DREAM-FI] Teen Daze, aka Vancouver, B.C., producer Jamison, dabbles in two of the hippest genres of the aughts, encapsulating the sugary, girlish romanticism of Best Coast, while tinkering with chilled-out electronica a la Neon Indian and Washed Out. While the upbeat ambience of the 2010 EP Beach Dreams is best paired with a summer barbecue, newest album Glacier is more suited to a stony walk in the rain. With a typically dreamy aesthetic, Teen Daze is a bit rehashed, and probably a favorite for anyone who’s “really, really excited about Coachella.” Even so, his sweet and spacy sound is still a dance-floor favorite. ASHLEY JOCZ. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $7 advance, $8 day of show. 21+.
Cass McCombs, Michael Hurley
DARREN MICHAELS
[AMERICANA] Fans of dusty, roadworn country rock have a veritable buffet of listening choices these days. Choose a Pandora station based on Wilco or Calexico’s rockist reimag-
inings of Dust Bowl folk and you’re bound to bump into Cass McCombs at some point. Like the format itself, McCombs’ blend of reedy vocals and delicate instrumentation is worn-in and familiar, the kind of music you’re inclined to dig into immediately or push aside after just a song or two. If even more bluesy drifter folk is something you’re in search of, McCombs can be counted on to help you find it. PETE COTTELL. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show.
Latrice Royale, the Sexbots
[DRAG FAB] Drag queen Latrice Royale made a legend of herself on Miami’s South Beach scene, where gaudiness is a staple and major tourist attraction. But this diva recently spread her plastic jewel-encrusted wings: The globe-trotting genderbender hopscotches west this winter, roosting in Oregon for three nights. Also on this bill, celebrating the release of latest album Junk Sick is Portland’s own Sexbots, an electronic anomaly led by the breathy, sultry Ilima Considine. Between Miss Royale’s and Miss Considine’s vastly divergent— but equally intense—approaches to sexuality, this is certainly the least PC thing going on in Portland tonight. It will be awesome. GRACE STAINBACK. Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $10 advance, $15 day of show, $20 VIP. . 21+.
FRIDAY, NOV. 8 Jonathan Richman
[MODERN LOVER] “Once I was young and intense,” sang Jonathan Richman on 2008’s Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild. We remember, Jon. That was the Jonathan Richman who, with his first group, the Modern Lovers declared he’d “go insane if you won’t sleep with me,” who said he won’t pretend to like a girl “when she makes me feel appalled.” The new Jonathan
TOP FIVE
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BY E RIC AN DR E
TOP FIVE BANDS THAT DON’T EXIST Polyamorous Brazilian Atheist Sounds like: A vacuum cleaner and a carnival procession with a woman speaking barely audible gibberish in the background. Alien vs. Predator vs. Brown vs. the Board of Education Sounds like: Two copy machines fucking while a bunch of inner-city children play double dutch. Operation Dude Brigade Sounds like: Frat boys butt-chugging beer. The Thinking Man’s Epic Beard Man Sounds like: That band Tortoise, if you were just playing their CD in your living room while the Jonas Brothers were brushing their hair, but with the commitment of a real cock-rock guitar solo. There’s also a telephone ringing the whole time. Steve Urkel Polio Factory Sounds like: The Dave Matthews Band. SEE IT: The Eric Andre Show Live is at Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., on Friday, Nov. 8. 9 pm. $12. 21+. See more of Andre’s band names at ericsbandnames.com. 26
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
SOuL BROTHERS: ural Thomas (right) and Scott Magee in Thomas’ home practice space in North Portland.
SOUL REVIVAL YEARS AGO, URAL THOMAS REJECTED THE CRUELTY OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. BUT THE PAIN BROUGHT HIM BACK. BY MATTHEW SIN GER
msinger@wweek.com
Ural Thomas has lots of stories. He’s been around the block, you might say, even though he’s lived in the same North Portland house—which he claims to have rebuilt himself, using all recycled materials, after it burned down in the mid-’70s—for the past four decades. In his youth, Thomas was a hot-shit soul singer, with a voice of equal parts grit and grace, who went from performing on street corners to sharing stages with R&B royalty. He says he opened the Rolling Stones’ first show in America and one of Otis Redding’s last. He played the Apollo with James Brown. He tells tales of record companies piling money on his bed and sending women to his hotel room, trying to seduce him into signing a contract. Hearing him recall those days, from a seat in the cluttered rehearsal room at the rear of his home, it’s hard to parse fact from fiction, the exaggerations from the misremembrances. But Thomas, 73, who speaks in soft, mannered tones, never sounds boastful. Those memories, for him, aren’t about personal glory, but pain and disenchantment. Yes, he met his idols and became their peer, but he found many of them cold, dismissive and mean. He was lied to by labels, ripped off by managers and betrayed by his own friends. No matter how accurate the details, the stories Thomas shares say everything about who he is, and why he eventually returned to the neighborhood where he grew up and never left again: He just didn’t have the heart to make it in the music business. “I didn’t have a clue it was like that,” Thomas says, a glint of that boyish innocence still lingering in his large, watery eyes. But second acts are big in 21st-century American life, particularly when it comes to forgotten soul singers. If it were up to certain people, Thomas—like Sharon Jones, Lee Fields and Charles Bradley, artists whose careers were revived after years in obscurity—would enjoy his
own moment of rediscovery. And some are actively working to make it happen: Earlier this year, a group of young Portland musicians convinced Thomas, who’s performed only sporadically in the last few years, to dust off his old songs and let them back him up. The band, dubbed the Pain after Thomas’ big-band weeper “Pain Is the Name of Your Game,” has already played two rapturously received shows, and calls this week’s Doug Fir gig its true “coming out.” For Thomas, the son of a minister, the opportunity to play his music again, free from the pressures of the industry, can only be a gift from above. “Everything we do comes back to us,” Thomas says, “good or bad.” Discovering Ural Thomas was just as much a gift for Scott Magee. A drummer and deepsoul connoisseur, who spins rare 45s as DJ Cooky Parker, he’d been looking to start a cover band, and was hoping to find a singer authentic enough to recreate the voices on those crackly old records. He came across reissues of Thomas’ late-’50s doo-wop group, the Monterays, and was amazed to learn he still lived in town. To gauge where Thomas stood musically, Magee attended one of the open Sunday jam sessions Thomas has held out of his home since the ’70s. “It all happened real quickly, because he still has it,” Magee says. Instead of simply reproducing bits of R&B arcana, Magee—along with the nine-piece band he’s assembled—is helping bring a lost piece of Portland’s past back to life. “I just feel fortunate that, here in Portland, we have this person who has this history and is still with us and is now performing, to add to what we have, in a real way.” The ultimate goal, Magee says, is to eventually get Thomas in the studio and record a set of all-new songs. Thomas already has a concept, framed around stories even older than his own: his mother’s. Some are supernatural; others relay encounters with brutal racist violence. The idea is to show how our past is never that far behind us. It’s something he knows well. “I want to tell the history of man, and how cruel he is to himself,” Thomas says. “People need to come together and really understand we’re on this ship together, and if this motherfucker sinks, we’re all going down.” SEE IT: Ural Thomas and the Pain play Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., with Orquestra Pacifico Tropical and Tiburones, on Wednesday, Nov. 6. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.
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FRIDAY experimentalism to the table, along with dark and seedy lyrical material that would make Mr. Reed proud. MARK STOCK. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
Richman—who has actually been around for 30-plus years—is more likely to compare himself to a little airplane than complain about not getting laid. But the memory of that brasher, nervier artist hangs over Richman’s nevertheless unique discography, if only because it lasted for one single, agitated burst. Richman remains a punk at heart, though: Last year, he played a threenight stand at Northeast Alberta Street dive the Know. This show is at a theater more proportional to his legacy, but Richman has a way of making every performance feel impossibly intimate. MATTHEW SINGER. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694. 8 pm. $15. Under 21 permitted with legal guardian.
St. Even
[SINGER-SONGWRITER] Steve Hefter came to Portland in 2009 from Baltimore, and two years later, under the name St. Even, released a quietly stunning album of lyrical chamber-pop called Spirit Animal. It didn’t really catch on locally, something that astounded my predecessor as WW music editor, Casey Jarman. This week, Hefter releases a new self-titled collection, on Jarman’s Party Damage Records. Again, it’s a delicate, warmly arranged set, placing gently plucked acoustic guitars and wilting horns against occasional barroom piano
[PSYCHEDELIC SOUL] A weird and wonderful slurry of soul, Seattle duo TheeSatisfaction’s psychedelic take on hip-hop and R&B exploded out of nowhere when the pair dropped its full-length debut, Awe Naturale, in 2011. That record, along with this year’s eight-song And That’s Your Time, answered a question nobody bothered to ask: What if somebody filtered a soul album through the catalogs of the Fugees, Shabazz Palaces and Digable Planets while listening to experimental jazz and classic Motown, then dropped acid during the mixing process? The result is the singular sound of siren Cat Harris-White and rapper Stas, a brand of soul that’s at once challenging, ethereal and soothing. AP KRYZA. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 9 pm. $15. All ages.
Claude VonStroke, J. Philip, the Perfect Cyn
[HEADY HOUSE] A ragged, cartoonish and goggle-eyed bird is the logo of Claude VonStroke’s Dirtybird Records, but it is only partially representative of the label’s brand of electronic music. Normally described only as “weird” for its eclectic, choppy sampling and highbrow rhythms, the Dirtybird sound has lately drifted toward house music’s Ibiza-happy mainstream. Not so, however, for the chief. VonStroke’s 2013 effort, Urban Animal, is just as freaky as his records have always been, featuring a transcendent head bobber in “Dood.” MITCH LILLIE. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $15. 21+.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
[FOREVER 28] Stephen Malkmus never ages. Though indie rock’s boy wonder is inching ever closer to 50, he still looks, dresses and acts the same as when he led Pavement to the top of the, um, CMJ charts in the mid-’90s. His songwriting has changed a bit, but his spirit hasn’t: His last record with the Jicks, 2011’s Mirror Traffi c, was his loosest collection of songs since Pavement’s Wowee Zowee. That record saw him (mostly) ditch his prog-rock impulses and Groundhogs-style guitar wankery for some of the fi nest, purest pop of his career. Tonight is the band’s fi rst show since last spring, and with a slew of U.K. dates coming up in January, it’s a precursor to the new Jicks record—awesomely titled Wig Out at Jagbags— next year. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 2250047. 8 pm. $23 advance, $25 day of show. 21+.
Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hurry Up, Prism Tats
[GUITAR ROCK] The late Lou Reed once described the sound of the Velvet Underground as “cymbals eating guitars.” The Staten Island band, which takes its name from that famous line, is more ’90s indie rock than ’60s avant-rock, though, operating in the guitar-driven mold of Ted Leo or Built to Spill. While unapologetically stoking a 20-yearold flame, Cymbals Eat Guitars brings some occasional dreamy
COURTESY OF M.CIZMAR
Siren Nation: TheeSatisfaction, Fault Lines, Jeni Wren
MUSIC
and Hefter’s own searching vocals. It is, perhaps, too unassuming to make St. Even the next big thing in local music, but that’s OK. For those in the know, the music doesn’t need hype to prop it up. It stands on its own. MATTHEW SINGER. Secret Society Ballroom, 116 NE Russell St. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
The Fratellis, the Ceremonies
[THE WHITE KEYS] One hesitates to assume a band whose members named themselves after the Goonies’ nemeses would ever necessarily mature, but Jon, Barry and Mince Fratelli were bound to change through the years. Packed with buoyant, nonsensical, sugar-jagged singles, the Glasgow trio’s 2006 debut, Costello Music, seemed more like a triumphant accident than blueprint, but nobody could have
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LETTER TO MY 13-YEAR-OLD SELF BY MARTIN CIZMAR
RE: GREEN DAY Dear 13-Year-Old Marty, How’s it going? I’m Martin—which will become your name at 17—and I’m here to talk to you about Green Day, the band you’re going to see on Sept. 10, 1994, three days before your 14th birthday. You got your mom’s credit card and ordered the tickets, right? They’re only $5, and Blossom Music Center is going to be totally packed with other kids who saw the band’s muddy set at Woodstock ’94 and want to re-create the scene in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. There will not be rain, so they’ll just rip up the grass on the lawn behind the pavilion where you’ll be sitting in the 12th row. You’ll buy the band’s T-shirt, which you’ll wear to class in blatant defiance of stated Tallmadge Middle School policy. Confronted by your English teacher, you’ll say Green Day is another term for Earth Day, and that the pile of dookie on the shirt is compost. She’ll back off because, ugh, you’re exactly the sort of smug little brat who’s not worth arguing with about a T-shirt. The burnouts wearing inside-out Metallica shirts will not be as impressed with your ability to flaunt the rules, but they have bigger problems coming—namely, Load. This Green Day show will be your first real concert. You’re about to taste the pure ecstasy of an out-of-control rock-’n’-roll show. Billie Joe will encourage the lawn people to hop the barricade; many will do so. Your dad will explain that this is what marijuana smells like. You’ll turn around as the opener, Moist, plays “Silver” and see what looks like torrential rain, but it will be blades of grass thrown by rowdy fans. Because of this tearing up of the grounds, Green Day will not be invited back to the summer home of the Cleveland Symphony until 2002. Yup, 2002. I know you’re not surprised to learn that Green Day is still playing giant venues nearly a decade after you first saw them. Your friends moved on to Limp Bizkit after Insomniac, but you’ll remain a true believer, the kid who bought Nimrod at Quonset Hut Records the week it came out—way before “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” saved the band’s career. But even you will be a little surprised to see a Tony Awardwinning Green Day musical in Oregon in 2013. Yes, on Sept. 20, 2004—10 years and 10 days after your first show—Green Day will release an epic masterpiece aimed at knocking the president of the United States out of office. It will fail at that goal, but a stage adaptation of the album will still be touring the country’s largest regional theaters a decade later. Metallica, meanwhile, will be the subject of a 3-D film about a roadie who dreams about getting mugged. And Limp Bizkit? Oh, man, you’re gonna love how that works out. Sincerely, 33-Year-Old Martin SEE IT: American Idiot is at Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 248-4335. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Friday, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday, 1 pm and 6:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 12-17. $25-$75. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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MUSIC To D D WA l b E r g
PROFILE
ANIMAL EYES WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6 First impressions are huge, especially in music. It’s no wonder, then, that Animal Eyes bears a certain resemblance to another beloved Portland band, discovered during its formative years. Colin McArthur first heard Menomena while living in Homer, Alaska, population 5,000. Dubbed the “halibut fishing capital of the world,” Homer is a gritty maritime town, where the possibility is high that the barfly at the next stool is also a Deadliest Catch cast member. Or, as McArthur describes it, “a crazy little hippie, redneck town where people go to hide away.” Other than mainstay bar bands, there wasn’t much going on musically in Homer. But the mother of McArthur’s longtime friend and bandmate, drummer Haven Multz Matthews, owned a record store in town. In 2007, she turned the thenhigh-school juniors on to Menomena’s Friend and Foe album. Everything changed. “It blew our minds,” McArthur says. Three years later, McArthur, Matthews and their friends Sam Tenhoff, Tyler Langham and Tyler Figley moved to Portland and formed Animal Eyes, a band that manages to show its debt to Menomena’s staggering art rock without sounding like a glorified tribute act. Playing spacious, syncopated progressive rock, the band shifts gears so often within a single track it takes stamina just to keep up. Like Menomena and its other audible influence, Animal Collective, Animal Eyes shares vocal duties, creating a dueling sense of tension. The band introduced itself to Portland with Found in the Forest in 2011, an experimental but accessible collection of harmonious jams pulsing with explosive percussion, Deadhead guitar riffing and clever, jazzy time signatures. “It’s a mess of noise in our heads,” McArthur says. Newly released EP Ursus—Latin for “bear,” harking back to the members’ Alaskan roots—shows the quintet continuing its toothy assault on the standardized rock-’n’-roll format. Ursus opens with “Bender,” a trippy, towering track in which Matthews sounds like he swapped his snare for an aluminum trashcan lid. It’s a clamorous and rhythmic declaration that the EP’s next four songs are not going to be in any way traditional. “Last Knock” is where the band reveals its new secret weapon: the accordion, another product of motherly intuition. “Sam’s mom gave it to him as a gift, so we started writing songs around it,” McArthur says. The song bursts into a swaying, rum-soaked nautical ballad, conjuring for the band members foggy images of the southern Alaskan coastline. Clearly, Animal Eyes hasn’t forgotten where it came from. “Alaska was where we got the time and space and our early inspirations,” McArthur says. “But Portland is our testing ground, where we’ve spent a lot of time learning what it’s actually like to be in a band.” MARK STOCK. Spacious psychedelic prog rock born in Alaska, made in Portland.
SEE IT: Animal Eyes plays Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., with Desert Noises and Tiger Merritt, on Wednesday, Nov. 6. 8:30 pm. $7. 21+. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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www.OregonPassengerRail.org
How would you like to see passenger rail improved? Join us at a public open house this November to learn about a study to improve passenger rail service between Eugene and Portland. Provide input on the recently completed evaluation of potential rail route alternatives. More info:
www.OregonPassengerRail.org
Public Open Houses Oregon City Tues, Nov. 12 (4 - 6:30p.m.) Pioneer Community Center 615 Fifth St, Oregon City Portland Thurs, Nov. 14 (5 - 7p.m.) PCC Climb Center 1626 SE Water Ave, Portland Spanish interpretation provided.
Accessible Event Information
Accommodations will be provided to people with disabilities. To request an accommodation, please call Jyll Smith at (503) 986-3985 or statewide relay 7-1-1 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
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Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
Participate Online Can’t make it to a meeting? Visit Nov. 5-18 to provide input online. www.OregonPassengerRail.org
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
SATURDAY, NOV. 9 Crystal Antlers, Elephant Stone
[MELLOW ROWDY] In a year when many heavy hitters put out excellent records, Southern California’s Crystal Antlers slyly released Nothing Is Real, one of the most listenable indie-punk offerings of 2013, on the ever-trendy Innovative Leisure Records. From front to back, the band unleashes a fantastic mix of brooding punk jams coupled with slower, semi-melodic rock tracks. Nothing Is Real has an appropriate amount of aggro guitar chords without placing them too far up front, making for a highly entertaining listen that should translate very well to the stage. GEOFFREY NUDELMAN. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 894-9708. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Atlas Genius, Family of the Year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
[PACESETTING POP] The Detroit duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. wears its beloved Motor City on its sleeve, producing slick pop adorned with gospel-tinged vocal harmonies that would make the Motown greats grin. The band’s latest, The Speed of Things, boasts big-label backing without the expected negative side effects. The new material is as carefree, catchy and original as ever. Arrive early: DEJJ is the best of the bunch, followed by sappy folksters Family of the Year and bland indierockers Atlas Genius. MARK STOCK. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 9 pm. $16 advance, $18 day of show. All ages.
SINGER. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave., 233-7100. 8 pm. $16 advance, $18 day of show.
Wesley Stace
[THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS JOHN WESLEY HARDING] John Wesley Harding, the brainy British expat singer-songwriter, just pulled what’s known as “the full Mellencamp,” dropping his entire Dylan-cribbed nom de plume in one fell swoop. It’s a fitting change, given that the newly unrechristened Wesley Stace’s new album, wryly titled Self-Titled, drops pretense as well, offering nakedly personal songs of a kind the artist has not previously attempted. Through its 16 songs, Stace makes fleeting emotional moments from his past available to his art and, in turn, to his audience—like a musical Proust whose madeleines are used books and old records. JEFF ROSENBERG. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 7:30 pm. $17 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.
Dan Reed Network
[RIFF CITY] What would Portland sound like today if Dan Reed had assumed his rightful throne? This isn’t the case of a locally beloved artist never landing the right break. The Dan Reed Network lay at the precipice of godhood in those final days of drive-time hegemony. With international touring slots supporting Def Leppard and the Rolling Stones, albums burnished to a reflective gloss by super-producers Nile Rodgers (Duran Duran, the B-52’s) and Bruce Fairbairn (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi) and a burgeoning trend toward funkified hard rock spurred on by Living Colour, weren’t massive audiences guaranteed? Wasn’t that what major labels were for? While Reed’s most recent release, Signal Fire, seems to have
tempered the flames, we still have those first three LPs and “Bust a Bucket,” Reed’s collaboration with the Drexler-Kersey-Porter-era Trail Blazers, which seems too sadly apropos. JAY HORTON. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 224-2038. $22-$34. 8 pm. All ages.
SUNDAY, NOV. 10 Ben Harper
[ACOUSTIC CATALOG] At 43, Ben Harper is too damn young to be releasing a career retrospective. Last year’s By My Side collected his most sweetly whispered ballads, but it seems premature for the man to start looking backward, especially given that his recent collaborative album with blues-harp legend Charlie Musselwhite, Get Up!, sports some of his finest blues to date. The aggressive latter album is piping hot with the singer-songwriter’s Weissenborn slide guitar and high-tenor howl. This Schnitz performance is a solo endeavor, though, so let’s not kid ourselves: It’s probably going to be a hushed evening featuring songs about shaken faith, heartbreak and, of course, doobies. BRANDON WIDDER. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 8 pm. $39$75. All ages.
Minor Alps, the Upsidedown, Melville
[SUPER-DUO] Minor Alps is Juliana Hatfield and Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws, two artists who’ve sustained long careers by writing sturdy, intelligent pop rock that’s almost always pleasant, even if it’s been a long time since it’s knocked anyone on their asses. Get There, the duo’s debut, continues along that same, level trajectory. It’s an unassuming collection of winsome ballads and amplified rockers, decorated with largely superfluous drum machines and electronic flourishes and anchored by the two singers’ intertwined, harmony-rich vocals. It’s all good and fine and will probably make anyone who pines for the halcyon days of ’90s alt-rock warm with nostalgia. There’s no limbclimbing here for either, but hey, both artists are well into their 40s. Why take a risk now? MATTHEW
GARLAND JEFFREYS—WEDNESDAY, 11/6 @ 6 PM Garland Jeffreys is 70 years old and making some of the best rock ‘n’ roll music of his 45 year career. He has released 14 albums in that time and had his music covered by many others. Lou Reed was a fan (R.I.P.). Springsteen is a fan. Garland is a true musical treasure. I can’t encourage you more to take some time and come down to see him play a free live set in our store Wed., Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. If you are a music fan, you will not be disappointed. ~ Terry Currier
Neo Boys Present a Benefit for Rock ’n’ Roll Camp for Girls: Cold Beat, Newman Schonberg Reyna Group, the Vandies, Toody Cole, the Ghost Ease, Monica Nelson, Busy Scissors, Crimson Typhoon
NEO BOYS— SATURDAY, 11/9 @ 3 PM Enter to win a special surprise pack from Neo Boys!
[RIOTS OLD AND NEW] Last month, K Records excavated a crucial artifact of Portland music history in
CONT. on page 36
SPECIAL AUTOGRAPH SESSION
PREVIEW
Mad Professor, Dub Gabriel
[DUB ME CRAZY] Releasing dozens of albums through his Ariwa Sounds imprint, the South Americanborn, U.K.-gestated producer Mad Professor douses his instrumental excursions with a tad too much electronic ingenuity for some purists to get behind. Despite—or perhaps because of—his attitude toward technology, some of Jamaica’s bestknown crusaders for dub and reggae have appeared alongside the technician to set clashing aesthetics together for posterity. With his litany of musical mutations, it’s unsurprising that the Professor would claim custody of new innovations, naming his latest disc The Roots of Dubstep. Even with there being little chance of the styles getting confused, Mad Professor’s adherence to a Jamaican scaffolding cements a vital link to the past as his work lurches into the future. DAVE CANTOR. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside St., 226-6630. 9 pm. $13. 21+.
MUSIC MILLENNIUM’S UPCOMING IN-STORES
LEE CHERRY
suspected the midtempo bluesy dullness of a sophomore album pronounced dead on arrival. Recently released We Need Medicine only pretends to marry new musicianship to the energies of old, while possessing absolutely none of the bonkers momentum that rendered their first collection as thrilling as a teen’s first high-speed pursuit. JAY HORTON. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 9 pm. $15 advance, $17 day of show. All ages.
MUSIC
Get a chance to meet Portland’s most-beloved first all-female rock band at this exclusive in-store signing. They regularly shared bills with The Wipers, opened for Nico, and played their first show with Television. Their newest release, Sooner or Later, is a double LP collection of recordings from 1977-1982.
ECHO US—SATURDAY, 11/9 @ 5 PM Echo Us started as an electronic pop group in Boston, Mass. but really came to life as the solo concept project of Ethan Matthews after a stay in the Mass. General Blake 11 Psych Ward and move to Portland. The newest Echo Us album, Tomorrow Will Tell The Story, incorporates everything from ambient synth washes and strings, to extra-terrestrial chants & canticles, and all kinds of world music influences. The album received an Independent Music Award (Vox Populi) for "Best Eclectic" recording.
RIVER TWAIN—SUNDAY, 11/10 @ 5 PM Born in a land of converging waters, Gus Reeves and Brad Wager make up the duo River Twain; a soulful amalgamation of roots, blues, folk and Americana music collectively known as dustbowl soul.
CASEY NEILL—TUESDAY, 11/12 @ 6PM
A$AP Ferg, A$AP Mob, Joey Fatts, Aston Matthews, OverDoz, 100s [CHAIN HANG LOW] This has not been the greatest year for hip-hop. So many big-event albums have either failed to innovate (Drake’s #everythingwasthesame, er, Nothing Was the Same) or were elaborate branding campaigns designed as phone apps (JayZ’s Magna Carta Holy Grail). Yeezus is a towering achievement and possibly the best record of the year, but it’s more of a goth-hop record than a true rap album. So in comes Harlem weirdo A$AP Ferg, the Russell Westbrook to A$AP Rocky’s Kevin Durant, to take his turn sitting on the Rap Game Iron Throne (at least among members of the rap Internet). Ferg’s debut, Trap Lord, is a deeply strange, moody and paranoid record, part Wu-Tang grime and Bone Thugs bounce, full of odd come-ons and syrup-voiced hooks. Originally released as a mixtape, Trap Lord has a few missteps, but it mostly goes hard: “Shabba,” the posse cut “Work” and especially “Hood Pope” rank among the best songs of the year. There’s nothing polite about Trap Lord: Listening to a clean stream on Spotify is like trying to piece together meaning from a foreign-language sitcom. But who likes their rap safe and easy? MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 7 pm Saturday, Nov. 9. $20 advance, $25 day of show. All ages.
Record Release Event
Casey Neill & The Norway Rats are set to release All You Pretty Vandals, an anthemic, junkyard rock album Neill says he’s “spent a decade trying to get to - both my own writing and the sound of the band.” He has played in the Minus Five and he has shared stages with Jello Biafra, Pete Seeger, Sunny Day Real Estate, Camper Van Beethoven, & countless more.
TISH HINOJOSA—WEDNESDAY, 11/13 @ 6 PM Tish Hinojosa’s music crosses borders – between cultures, languages and musical genres. Moving with equal grace through folk, country, pop and latino styles, her music reflects contemporary America’s multicultural richness. Combining a vision that embraces all of these musical styles, with her characteristic warmth and a pure, soulful voice, this enchanting Texan singer-songwriter has gained a loving and loyal audience throughout America, Europe and beyond.
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TOM GRANT
LIVE IN CONCERT – FRIDAY NOV 15 – 7:30 PM
WALTERS CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
Sue Lewis and Mango Nights dates here are back in Portland 8:30pm Nov 9th at Vie de Boheme. Special guest, actress and comedian Jennifer Lanier MCs for the evening and later hosts her famous drag show as 'Bruce TD King'.
527 E. Main Street – Downtown Hillsboro – OR 97123 503-615-3485
number one albums on the charts – don’t miss this legendary Portland pianist performing an evening of
With four
music with his band - in an intimate concert setting.
$15 ADVANCE / $20 DAY OF SHOW Call for tickets or purchase online at www.brownpapertickets.com
Visit us online at www.hillsboro-oregon.com/Walters and follow us on facebook!
Buy tickets at www.mangonights.com
MUSIC
sunday-tuesday/classical, etc.
the form of Sooner or Later, a collection of all known recordings made by the Neo Boys. In the preSatyricon ’70s and early ’80s, the band was, despite the masculine noun in its name, Stumptown’s answer to the Raincoats, making smart, bracing, feminist punk with odd angles and an intriguing use of space. That band no longer exists, but its impact can be traced through many of the groups on the bill of this release show and benefit concert, from the surfy bounce of Cold Beat, the solo project of Grass Widow’s Hannah Lew; to the garage-y dissonance of rising Portlanders the Ghost Ease; to even Toody Cole, the widely acknowledged grandmother of Portland punk rock, whose first band, the Rats, started up right around the same time as the Neo Boys. MATTHEW SINGER. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 6 pm. $9.99, children under 12 free. All ages.
Arkona, Zirakzigil, Barrowlands, Druden
[PAGAN METAL] It’s sad that most gateways into metal music these days are via mall culture. Honestly, a band like Arkona—a symphonic Russian folk-metal group formed in 2002—would be a fantastic entry point for the NPR crowd. The music is melodic, epic and employs all manner of traditional instruments set against a backdrop of choirs and strings. Led by Masha “Scream” Arhipova, the band set its sights on bringing traditional Russian folklore to the masses, replete with double bass drums and soaring guitars. Someone put together a savvy bill here, with fantasy prog-sludge group Zirakzigil providing main support and the one-two punch of local Cascadian black-metal groups Barrowlands and Druden up front. NATHAN CARSON. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave., 2337100. 8 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show. All ages.
MONDAY, NOV. 11 Crocodiles
Bill Frisell’s Big Sur Quintet
[AMERICAN JAZZ] The Monterey Jazz Festival commissioned Seattle-based guitar master Bill Frisell to compose a work inspired by the titular California coastal paradise. The relaxed yet reflective masterpiece he created after spending a couple of secluded weeks at Glen Deven Ranch last year summons the varied beauties of its inspiration. Featuring members of both his 858 Quartet and Beautiful Dreamers jazz trio, Big Sur represents a pinnacle of Frisell’s masterful, two-decadelong melding of jazz, rock and American folk music. Somehow, it all coalesces into an utterly natural transcendence of genres that, in Frisell’s skilled hands and expansive imagination, seem to have no reason for existing in the first place. BRETT CAMPBELL. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694. 8 pm Saturday Nov. 9. $30 advance, $35 day of show. Under 21 permitted with legal guardian.
Opening Night: Portland Youth Philharmonic
[YOUNG CLASSICAL] One of the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s most famous alums, violist and composer Kenji Bunch, recently moved back to Portland. He spent the last two decades in New York, winning renown for his refreshingly accessible, thoroughly contemporary compositions. He’s working with the orchestra that gave him his start as both a teacher and composer, including this concert’s world premiere of the orchestral version of his Supermaximum. Inspired by the way unjustly incarcerated black prisoners in the precivil rights South drew strength from music, the program also features Hannah Moon, who won the orchestra’s annual piano concerto composition, in Grieg’s famous piano concerto. BRETT CAMPBELL. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 9. $17-$50.
TUESDAY, NOV. 12
Meredith Monk, Katie Geissinger
[SAD-GIRL SURF ROCK] Gothic Tropic delivers on its namesake, writing catchy surf-rock riffs with a brooding side. The psychedelic eccentricities melded with leather jacket coolness of L.A. bands like Wavves and Cosmonauts make the band stand out among a sea of recent ’60s revivalists. A summer beach trip gone wrong, a steampunk with a stuffed animal collection, Re-Animator starring the Beach Boys—any way you imagine it, Gothic Tropic makes you want to put on shades and boots while drinking out of a coconut. ASHLEY JOCZ. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 8949708. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
Tigran Hamasyan
[JAZZ AND BEYOND] After winning jazz’s most prestigious award for emerging talent, the 2006 Thelonious Monk Competition, the young virtuoso pianist Tigran Hamasyan immediately began moving beyond standard rep, jazz and even the piano itself. He then incorporated influences from his Armenian heritage, contemporary classical music, pop and rock and added vocals. Hamasyan’s impressive new Verve Records album, Shadow Theater, incorporates influences from Sigur Rós to Steve Reich. It’s hard to tell where the jazz ends and the indie pop and contemporary classical music begin. Best of all, it’s so cohesive it doesn’t matter. BRETT CAMPBELL. Analog Cafe, 720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 8 pm Tuesday Nov. 7. $10. 21+.
[ROCK ’N’ ROLL] It’d be easy to lump Crocodiles in with the lauded and ever-expanding garage-rock scene happening in San Francisco if it weren’t for the band’s slippery sound. The group boasts a beachy, partyhungry quality that’s unmistakably Southern Californian. There are psychedelic, even spiritual undertones, too, especially in the band’s latest record, Crimes of Passion. Hell, there’s even a glamrock side to Crocodiles, reminiscent of early Dandy Warhols or current Deerhunter. More than anything, though, the band is vintage rock ’n’ roll, aching over girls to the tune of weeping guitars, fuzzy vocals and timeless structures. MARK STOCK. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 8949708. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Aan, Gothic Tropic, Neal Morgan
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CLASSICAL, JAZZ & WORLD
[VOCAL VIRTUOSAS] Beginning in the 1960s, Meredith Monk reimagined how the human voice could make music. As Musical America’s 2012 Composer of the Year and 1995 MacArthur “genius” grant winner, the New York-based performance art pioneer, singer, choreographer and composer is one of the living legends of contemporary classical music. Her many albums on ECM records showcase her creative solo and vocal ensemble compositions, and her multimedia works have been staged all over the world, from London’s Barbican Centre to Brazil to Syria and beyond. She’s joined in this performance of duets by one of her longtime ensemble singers, Katie Geissinger. BRETT CAMPBELL. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd. 7:30 pm Monday, Nov. 11. Free. All ages.
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MUSIC CALENDAR
[NOV. 6-12]
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. Editor: Mitch Lillie. TO HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED, send show information at least two weeks in advance on the web at wweek.com/ submitevents or (if you book a specific venue) enter your events at dbmonkey.com/wweek. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: music@wweek.com.
Teen Daze, Camp Counselors, Philip Grass
Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant
1435 NW Flanders St. Tom Grant, Marilyn Keller
Jade Lounge
For more listings, check out wweek.com.
LEO ZAROSINSkI
2346 SE Ankeny St. Salon de Musique: Jamie Leopold
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. The Mel Brown B3 Organ Group
Kells
112 SW 2nd Ave. Danny O’Hanlon
Kelly’s olympian
426 SW Washington St. The Pinehurst Kids, the Choices
Landmark Saloon
4847 SE Division St. Andrea and the Enablers, Dust and Thirst
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Tree Top Tribe, the Colin Trio, Lewi Longmire & the Left Coast Roasters
Lodge
6605 SE Powell Blvd Ben Rice B3 Trio
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Goose & Fox, Barna Howard, Jeffrey Martin
McMenamins edgefield 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Jack McMahon
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
FuNK oN A WHoLe NeW LeveL: TheeSatisfaction plays the Alberta Rose Theatre as part of the Siren Nation Festival on Friday, Nov. 8.
Wed. Nov. 6 Al’s den at the Crystal Hotel
303 SW 12th Ave. Daniel and the Lion, Tyler Stenson
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 NE Alberta St. Woman of Heart and Mind: Joni Mitchell’s 70th Birthday Tribute Concert: Anne Weiss, Kris Deelane, Bre Gregg, Paula Sinclair, Sue Zalokar
Alberta Street Public House 1036 NE Alberta St. Garett Brennan and the Great Salt Licks, Santi Elijah Holley, Brad Parsons
Amadeus Manor
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. This Tour is a Party 2: Mega Ran, Amanda Lepre, Professor Shyguy, D&D Sluggers
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1503 SE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. Rockstar Karaoke
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE 39th Ave. Kill Devil Hill, Eyes Set To Kill, Girl On Fire, Black Water Rising
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Desert Noises, Tiger Merritt, Animal Eyes
Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant
2122 SE Sparrow St., Milwaukie Open Mic
1435 NW Flanders St. Dave Frishberg, Rebecca Kilgore
Andina
Jack London Bar
1314 NW Glisan St. Toshi Onizuka
Ash Street Saloon
529 SW 4th Ave. Proper Movement Drums and Bass
225 SW Ash St. Digital Bloodline, the Lesser Three, Mangled Bohemians
Jade Lounge
dante’s
221 NW 10th Ave. The Mel Brown Quartet
350 W Burnside St. Star Anna
doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Ural Thomas & the Pain, Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, Tiburones
duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Suburban Slim’s Blues Jam, Gary Furlow and the Loafers
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Twisted Whistle, the Student Loan, A Mile To Go
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2346 SE Ankeny St. Fez Fatale
Jimmy Mak’s
Kells
112 SW 2nd Ave. Danny O’Hanlon
Landmark Saloon
4847 SE Division St. Jake Ray & the Cowdogs, Miller and Sasser’s Twelve Dollar Band
Laughing Horse Books 12 NE 10th Ave. Seacats, Young Splendor, Of Fortune And Fame, the Royal Sloots
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. The Fire Weeds, Timberbound Project
Lents Commons
9201 SE Foster Road Open Mic
Lodge
6605 SE Powell Blvd Pete Ford Band
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Autistic Youth, Freedom Club, Piss Test
The old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave. Dr. Beverly Serra-Brooks
The Press Club
McMenamins edgefield
2621 SE Clinton St. Moniker, the Baron Robber
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio? Show: Pat Kearns
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Radical Revolution Trio
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Billy D
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Garland Jeffreys
Music Millennium
3158 E Burnside St. Garland Jeffreys
Revival drum Shop 1465 NE Prescott St. Jennifer Robin, Jake Anderson, Jordan Dykstra, Tom Blood
Roseland Theater
8 NW 6th Ave. Trivium, Devildriver, After The Burial, Thy Will Be Done
Shaker and vine
2929 SE Powell Blvd. Chasing Mischief
Slabtown
1033 NW 16th Ave. Queer Night: The Cliks, Hot Peach, Stepsister
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. Star Anna, Lewi Longmire & the Left Coast Roasters, Pete Stein, Michael Dean Damron
Tonic Lounge
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Bo Ayars
White eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Zach Bellas, Perry Gerber
Wilfs Restaurant & Bar 800 NW 6th Ave. Ron Steen Band, Laura Stillwell
THuRS. Nov. 7 Al’s den at the Crystal Hotel
Neftali Rivera Artichoke Community Music 3130A SE Hawthorne Blvd. Songwriter Roundup
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Stochastic Mettle Union, Sister Mamie Foreskin, the Modern Ass Jazz Singers
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. Battle of the Bands
Buffalo Gap eatery and Saloon 6835 SW Macadam Ave. The Applicants, We Are Brothers, Jason and Tiff
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave. And And And, the Shivas, Scatter Gather
Chapel Pub
430 N Killingsworth St. Steve Kerin
dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Joe Buck, Viva Le Vox
doug Fir Lounge
303 SW 12th Ave. Daniel and the Lion, Ryan T. Jacobs
830 E Burnside St. Cowboy Mouth, Goodbyemotel
Aladdin Theater
duff’s Garage
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Gaelic Storm
1635 SE 7th Ave. Tough Lovepyle
Alberta Street Public House
Goodfoot Lounge
1036 NE Alberta St. Rita Hosking, Lincoln Crockett
Alhambra Theatre
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Death Valley High
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St.
2845 SE Stark St. Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Lynn Conover, Gravel
McMenamins’ Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd Ave. Freak Mountain Ramblers
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. James Rabbit, iji, Key Losers, Mandarin Dynasty (9 pm); Becca Schultz (6 pm)
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Cass McCombs, Michael Hurley
Mock Crest Tavern 3435 N Lombard St. FolkStar
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Sleepy Eyed Johns
Record Room
8 NE Killingsworth St. Cold Beat, Hungry Ghost, Ghost Ease
Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. Latrice Royale, the Sexbots
Secret Society Ballroom
116 NE Russell St. The Soultans, the Sorry Devils
Slabtown
1033 NW 16th Ave. Ten Foot Mouse, Sweeping Exits, Hooded Hags
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. Lunch, the Bad Lovers, Young Fast Scientific
The Analog
720 SE Hawthorne Tigran Hamasyan
1503 SE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. KRSNA, Blue Flags & Black Grass
The elixir Lab
Holocene
The Press Club
1001 SE Morrison St.
2738 NE Alberta St. The Rose City Bluegrass Band 2621 SE Clinton St. Donny Osborne
Tiga
eastBurn
Tiger Bar
Foggy Notion
1465 NE Prescott St. Haim Kenig 317 NW Broadway Karaoke From Hell
valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. Gems
1800 E Burnside St. Down Home Music 3416 N Lombard St. Fools Rush, Comfort Zone, Lubec
Habesha
vie de Boheme
801 NE Broadway Fine Pets, Woolen Men, Scared Crow, Busy Scissors, Stoner Mom
West Cafe
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1530 SE 7th Ave. Loose Change
1201 SW Jefferson St. Alan Jones Academy Jazz Jam
White eagle Saloon 836 N Russell St. Li’l Smokies
Wonder Ballroom 128 NE Russell St. of Montreal, La Luz
FRI. Nov. 8 Al’s den at the Crystal Hotel
303 SW 12th Ave. Daniel and the Lion, Kevin Shay Johnson
Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Jonathan Richman
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 NE Alberta St. Siren Nation: TheeSatisfaction, Fault Lines, Jeni Wren
Alberta Street Public House 1036 NE Alberta St. Kneebody, Blue Cranes
Alhambra Theatre
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Grant Farm, the Giraffe Dodgers (theatre); The I’s, James Faretheewell and the Foolhardy, Marie Black and the Love (lounge)
Ash Street Saloon
1503 SE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. Canoofle, Eric Smith
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE 39th Ave. Dead Remedy, Ultra Goat, the Hoons, Reign Cycle, Kivett Bednar
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Newbody, Emotion II Emotion, Spencer D
Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant 1435 NW Flanders St. Bridge Quartet
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Chris Juhlin, Emily Stebbins, Keegan Heron
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. Andrew Paul Woodworth, Throwback Suburbia, Jordan Harris
Katie o’Briens
2809 NE Sandy Blvd. Die Like Gentlemen, Barrowlands, Vice Riot
Kaul Auditorium at Reed College
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd. Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble
Kells Brewpub
210 NW 21st Ave. Sami Rouisi
225 SW Ash St. Scale the Summit, the Reign Of Kindo, Jolly, We the Wild
Kells
Beaterville Cafe
426 SW Washington St. The Subterranean Howl, Brakemouth
2201 N Killingsworth St. Betty Moss, the Decadent
Biddy McGraw’s Irish Pub 6000 NE Glisan St. Trixty and the Nasties, Miller and Sasser
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. Claude VonStroke, J. Philip, the Perfect Cyn
Buffalo Gap eatery and Saloon 6835 SW Macadam Ave. Midwestern
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave. The Lonely Forest, Cumulus
Clyde’s Prime Rib
5474 NE Sandy Blvd. Muthaship
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Just People
doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Alexander Tragedy, Symmetry/Symmetry, Just Lions
duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Too Loose Cajun Band
east end
203 SE Grand Ave. The Goddamned Animals, Thunder Goat, The Punctuals
112 SW 2nd Ave. The Young Dubliners
Kelly’s olympian
Landmark Saloon
4847 SE Division St. Douglas T. Cremmons, Sam Yale Country Band
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Garcia Birthday Band, Joe McMurrian & Woodbrain
McMenamins edgefield 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Gideon Freudmann
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Krebsic Orkestar, Level 2
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hurry Up, Prism Tats
Mock Crest Tavern 3435 N Lombard St. Sneakin’ Out
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. The Sportin’ Lifers Trio
Nel Centro
1408 SW 6th Ave. Mike Pardew
Newmark Theatre
1111 SW Broadway Michael Kaeshammer
Noho’s Hawaiian Cafe 4627 NE Fremont St. Hawaiian Music
Rock Bottom Brewery 206 SW Morrison St. Jive Coulis
NOV. 6-12
MUSIC CALENDAR
BAR SPOTLIGHT AUTUMN ROSE NORTHCRAFT
Dead Winter Carpenters, Left Coast Country
Habesha
801 NE Broadway Big Haunt, Khan Heir, Ryan Sollee
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1503 SE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. Rocket 3, King Ghidora, Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE 39th Ave. Minor Alps, the Upsidedown, Melville
Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant 1435 NW Flanders St. Ezra Weiss Sextet
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Doug Stepina, Travis Ellison
Katie O’Briens
2809 NE Sandy Blvd. This Versus That, Avenue Victor Hugo, the Drivers
EXTREME MAKEOVER, BAR EDITION: This one’s a heart-warmer. Way out in Lents, at the corner of Southeast Foster Road and 92nd Avenue, sat a bar named Riley’s where old men drank piss-water beer and fed their SSI checks back to the state through video lottery machines. It was, by all accounts, a terrible bar, and so a perfect target for Erin Wagner. Wagner is like an honorary McMenamin sister, except instead of refurbishing character-rich historic buildings, she turns East Portland’s most stabberiffic alky dives into neighborhood treasures. Her previous work includes Mount Scott’s best bar, the Lion’s Eye, which took over for Becken’s Winning Hand Tavern after the bar’s namesake publican was busted for selling meth on the premises. Last September, Wagner turned Riley’s into The Eagle Eye (5836 SE 92nd Ave., 774-2141). The Eagle Eye is an awesome tavern. It’s awesome in Lents, and it would be awesome in Buckman or Multnomah Village. True, it’s still growing out of the rec-room stage—it’s spacious with big windows and a drop ceiling that’s been painted to look like tin paneling—but there’s a smooth pool table and tap lines so clean that Riley’s patrons could get dialysis through them. Beer and liquor are local, the clientele is friendly and there’s karaoke, trivia and open-mic nights to entertain anyone trying to break free of video crack. MARTIN CIZMAR.
Kells Brewpub
210 NW 21st Ave. Sami Rouisi
Kells
112 SW 2nd Ave. Brothers
Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Sunset Valley, Miracle Falls, Mark Pickerel
Landmark Saloon
4847 SE Division St. Barndoor Slammer, Dusty Rust
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Alder St. Allstars, Inspirational Beets
McMenamins Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Jon Koonce
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern 10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Garcia Birthday Band
Mission Theater and Pub Secret Society Ballroom 116 NE Russell St. St. Even, Pete Krebs & His Portland Playboys
Shaker and Vine
2929 SE Powell Blvd. Happy Otherwise
Slabtown
Vie de Boheme
1530 SE 7th Ave. Stayin’ Alive ‘70s Disco Show: Bart Hafeman
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Better Than Street Racket, the Ubuntu Project
1033 NW 16th Ave. Shroud Of The Heretic, Dilapidation, Hereticon, Mammoth Salmon
Wonder Ballroom
The Analog
800 SE 10th Ave., Portland Best Available Technology
720 SE Hawthorne Jet Pack Missing, Smash Bandits, Stuck on Nothing, Lindsey Pool, Kevin Darrow
The Blue Diamond
2016 NE Sandy Blvd. Suburban Slim
The Elixir Lab
2738 NE Alberta St. Instrumental Grooves
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Tarantuja, Piss Piss Piss
The Lovecraft
421 SE Grand Ave. Lungfish, The Gun Club, Jawbreaker
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave. Bridge to Russia Fundraiser: Chervona, Rene Berblinger, Yulia
The Press Club
2621 SE Clinton St. The Druthers
The Waypost
3120 N Williams Ave. Eleanor Murray, the Mona Reels, Whales Whailing
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Prelude to a Pistol, Ruff Haüsen
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Jenny Finn Orchestra
128 NE Russell St. The Fratellis, the Ceremonies
Yale Union (YU)
SAT. NOV. 9 Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel
303 SW 12th Ave. Daniel and the Lion, Thom Lyons
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 NE Alberta St. Shook Twins, Calico Rose, Copper & Coal
Biddy McGraw’s Irish Pub 6000 NE Glisan St. Dark Matter Transfer, Lowell J. Mitchell Jug Band
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. A$AP Ferg, A$AP Mob, Joey Fatts, Aston Matthews, OverDoz, 100s
Bravo Lounge
Muddy Rudder Public House
1028 SE Water Ave. Crystal Antlers, Elephant Stone
Artichoke Community Music
3130A SE Hawthorne Blvd. Indalo Wind
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Akkadia, Riverpool, Stillstand, Stoning Giants
Beaterville Cafe
2201 N Killingsworth St. Vanessa Rogers, Missi and Mister Baker
3435 N Lombard St. Tracey Fordice & the 8-Balls
8105 SE 7th Ave. Spodee-O’s
Camellia Lounge
Rock Bottom Brewery
Classic Pianos
Roseland Theater
Brazilian Jazz Concert: Nancy Curtin, Tom Grant, Dave Captein
Rotture
510 NW 11th Ave. Nicole Glover
3003 SE Milwaukie Ave.
350 W Burnside St. Mad Professor, Dub Gabriel
1314 NW Glisan St. Toshi Onizuka Trio
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Wesley Stace
Bunk Bar
Alhambra Theatre
Andina
3552 N Mississippi Ave. The Israelites, Buddy J’s Jamaican Jazz Band (9 pm); Eagles of Freedom (6 pm)
Mock Crest Tavern
Alberta Street Public House
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Vanessa Carlton, Birdcloud
Mississippi Pizza
8560 SE Division St. Phantom Buzz, The Lesser Three, The Real
Crystal Ballroom
1036 NE Alberta St. Chris Baron and the Tummybuckles
1624 NW Glisan St. Bill Frisell’s Big Sur Quintet
1332 W Burnside St. Atlas Genius, Family of the Year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Dante’s
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. The Handsome Family, Wildewood
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. The Electric Range
EastBurn
1800 E Burnside St. Tigernaut, Ojos Feos
Foggy Notion
3416 N Lombard St. Foxy Lemon, Brother Elf, Outer Space Heaters
Goodfoot Lounge 2845 SE Stark St.
206 SW Morrison St. Samsel and the Skirt 8 NW 6th Ave. Dan Reed Network 315 SE 3rd Ave. Kissy Sellout
Secret Society Ballroom 116 NE Russell St. The Lucky Ones, Darrin Craig, the Junebugs, Trashcan Joe
Shaker and Vine
2929 SE Powell Blvd. Steam Cats of Sekonza
Slabtown
1033 NW 16th Ave. Nekrofilth, Cemetery Lust, Weregoat, Stoned Shitless, Chronic Tomb
The Analog
720 SE Hawthorne Castdown, Ian Scott
The Blue Diamond
2016 NE Sandy Blvd. The New Iberians
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Dead Cvlt, MGK Ultra, Bone Spells
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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MUSIC CALENDAR The Lovecraft
Kells
The Press Club
LaurelThirst
421 SE Grand Ave. Volt Divers 2621 SE Clinton St. The Mercy Girls
The TARDIS Room
1218 N Killingsworth St. The Crush
The Whiskey Bar
31 NW 1st Ave. Gabriel & Dresden, Eddie Pitzul, Evan Alexander
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Magisterial, Imaginary Lines, Little Birds
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Signatures
Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. Problems?
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Diego Garcia, Kan Wakan
Wilfs Restaurant & Bar 800 NW 6th Ave. Jean Ronne Trio
Winningstad Theatre
Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway At This Moment: The Noted, Doug Smith
Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell St. Mayday Parade, Man Overboard, Cartel, Stages & Stereos
SUN. NOV. 10 Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel 303 SW 12th Ave. Tiburones
Aladdin Theater
Sammi, Irish Sessions 2958 NE Glisan St. Freak Mountain Ramblers
McMenamins Edgefield 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Kites and Crows
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Poe & Monroe, Douglas County Daughters
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Sean Wagner, Bike Thief
Music Millennium
3158 E Burnside St. River Twain
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Poppet, Tonality Star, Grape God, William Ingrid
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
1037 SW Broadway Ben Harper
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Analog Mistress, False Metal, Martinibomb
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. Fallstar, the Ongoing Concept, Prestige, Beneath the Gates
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Neo Boys Present a Benefit for Rock’n’Roll Camp for Girlst: Cold Beat, Newman Schonberg Reyna Group, the Vandies, Toody Cole, the Ghost Ease, Monica Nelson, Busy Scissors, Crimson Typhoon
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE 39th Ave. Arkona, Zirakzigil, Barrowlands, Druden
Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant
1435 NW Flanders St. Gotta Move: Seth Hampton, Jason Graae, Jim Templeton
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Djo Fortunado, the Bergamot
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave.
Lloyd Jones Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. Metal Monday: DJ Desecrator
TUES. NOV. 12 Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel 303 SW 12th Ave. Tiburones
Rontoms
Ash Street Saloon
206 SW Morrison St. Natalie Greenfield
600 E Burnside St. Sama Dams, Grammies
Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. Tecumseh, Threads, Prizehog
Secret Society Ballroom
116 NE Russell St. Lefty & the Twin, Sam Cooper, Betty & The Boy, Parlours, Catherine Feeny
The Conga Club
4923 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 102 VYBZ Reggae Night
The Press Club
2621 SE Clinton St. Sunday Night Cinema
Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. Machine, Ten Million Lights, Leonhardt
Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel
Alhambra Theatre
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Bob Shoemaker
Alberta Street Public House
Alberta Rose Theatre
1036 NE Alberta St. Brothers Bror
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
Rock Bottom Brewery
Vie de Boheme
Alberta Street Public House
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
112 SW 2nd Ave.
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. 20 Voices: A Community Benefit Concert for Ethos: Kevin Selfe, Whistlin’ Rufus, Blake Sakamoto 3000 NE Alberta St. Jeffrey Foucault, Jeffrey Martin
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NOV. 6-12
1530 SE 7th Ave. Arthur Moore
MON. NOV. 11 303 SW 12th Ave. Tiburones
Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Graham Nash
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Pete Krebs
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave. Crocodiles
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Karaoke From Hell
Ground Kontrol
1036 NE Alberta St. Debbie Neigher 225 SW Ash St. Phreak: Rokhausen, Joyride, Mr. GnarGnarKillKill
Bravo Lounge
8560 SE Division St. Majr-D
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave. Aan, Gothic Tropic, Neal Morgan
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. SOJA, Common Kings
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Johnnie Ward’s Sharkskin Review
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. The Family Funktion
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE 39th Ave. Turquoise Jeep, Epp, Stewart Villain, Gums and Antitune, Rap Class
Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant 1435 NW Flanders St. Andrei Kitaev Trio
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. The Mel Brown Septet, Leon Cotter
Kells
112 SW 2nd Ave. Sammi
Langano Lounge
1435 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Parallels McMenamins Edgefield 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Pete Krebs
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
511 NW Couch St. Metal Monday
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Bluegrass Tuesdays
Kells Brewpub
Mississippi Pizza
Kells
Mississippi Studios
210 NW 21st Ave. Traditional Irish Jam Session 112 SW 2nd Ave. Sammi
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Supadupa Marimba Brothers
Kelly’s Olympian
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Jillette Johnson, Year After
Kenton Club
3158 E Burnside St. Casey Neill
426 SW Washington St. Eye Candy VJs
Music Millennium
2025 N Kilpatrick St. Follies & Vices, Moon Debris, Grizzly, Foreign Talks
Roseland Theater
LaurelThirst
1033 NW 16th Ave. Super Desu
2958 NE Glisan St. Kung Pao Chickens, Portland Country Underground
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Freak Mountain Ramblers
McMenamins Edgefield 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Groovy Wallpaper, the Sale
8 NW 6th Ave. Rusko
Slabtown
The Elixir Lab
2738 NE Alberta St. Three for Silver
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Diemonds, Black Magik Dragon, Satyress
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. Cowboys From Sweden
White Eagle Saloon 836 N Russell St. Last Home, Magic Punches, the Crash Engine
MUSIC CALENDAR COURTESY OF WINDISH AGENCY
NOV. 6-12
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NOT A WARBY PARKER AD: Funkagenda spins at the Whiskey Bar on Friday, Nov. 8.
ARTS & SCIENCES | OPTOMETRY | EDUCATION | HEALTH PROFESSIONS | BUSINESS
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE Berbati’s
Star Theater
CC Slaughters
The Lovecraft
231 SW Ankeny St. DJ Mellow Cee 219 NW Davis St. Revolution with DJ Robb
800-677-6712 | admissions@pacificu.edu
13 NW 6th Ave. Church of Hive 421 SE Grand Ave. DJ Ol’ Sippy
East End
WED. NOV. 6 Andrea’s Cha Cha Club 832 SE Grand Ave. Salsa: DJ Alberton
Berbati’s
231 SW Ankeny St. DJ Seleckta YT
Bossanova Ballroom 722 E Burnside St. Wednesday Swing
CC Slaughters
219 NW Davis St. Trick with DJ Robb
East End
203 SE Grand Ave. DJ Rob Schaffer
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Barrett
The Firkin Tavern 1937 SE 11th Ave. Eye Candy VJs
The Lovecraft
Harlem
220 SW Ankeny St. Bounce: Tourmaline, Valen
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Dirtbag: DJ Bruce LaBruiser
The Lovecraft
421 SE Grand Ave. Vortex: DJ Kenny, John and Skip
FRI. NOV. 8 Berbati’s
231 SW Ankeny St. Cloud City Collective
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. DJ Aquaman’s Soul Stew
Ground Kontrol
231 SW Ankeny St. Studyhall: DJ Suga Shane
CC Slaughters
219 NW Davis St. Hip Hop Heaven with DJ Detroit Diezel
Foggy Notion
3416 N Lombard St. Beat Salad: DJ Olde Toby
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. Community Library DJs: DJ Brokenwindow, Strategy
Berbati’s
1001 SE Morrison St. Cock Block: Trinitron, DJ Tracy, Monika Mhz, Tracy Why
31 NW 1st Ave. Funkagenda, Kryspin, Jamie Meushaw
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. DJ Easy Ian
SAT. NOV. 9 Beech St. Parlor 412 NE Beech St. DJ Survival Skillz
CC Slaughters
Mississippi Studios
421 SE Grand Ave. Departures: DJ Waisted, DJ Anais Ninja
1332 W Burnside St. Come As You Are: 90s Dance Flashback 3939 N Mississippi Ave. MRS Queer Dance Party: DJ Beyonda
Refuge
The Conquistador
The Whiskey Bar
231 SW Ankeny St. DJ Henry Dark 219 NW Davis St. Maniac Monday with DJ Robb
4923 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 102 Tropical Saturday Salsa
2045 SE Belmont St. DJ Drew Groove
225 SW Ash St. DJ Brux Blackhawk
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom
639 SE Morrison St. DJ OverCol
639 SE Morrison St. Go French Yourself: DJ Cecilia
Berbati’s
Holocene
511 NW Couch St. DJ Destructo, DJ Chip
Star Bar
Tiga
THURS. NOV. 7
Ground Kontrol
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom
421 SE Grand Ave. Event Horizon: DJ Straylight, DJ Backlash
MON. NOV. 11 Ash Street Saloon
116 SE Yamhill St. Convergence: NastyNasty, Kalya Scintilla, Bird of Prey, Danny Corn, Plantrae, Melting Pot
511 NW Couch St. DJ Featurekreep
1332 W Burnside St. 80s Video Dance Attack
1465 NE Prescott St. DJ Kevin Lee
203 SE Grand Ave. New Dadz DJ
Star Bar
The Conga Club
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. DJ Snacks
SUN. NOV. 10 Berbati’s
231 SW Ankeny St. DJ Linkus EDM
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. A Matter of Public Records: DJ Noah Fence
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. The Bobcat
The Lovecraft
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. DJ Callie Danger
TUES. NOV. 12 Berbati’s
231 SW Ankeny St. Soundstation Tuesdays: DJ Instigatah, Snackmaster DJ
Bossanova Ballroom 722 E Burnside St. Tango Tuesday
CC Slaughters
219 NW Davis St. Girltopia with DJ Alicious
Dots Cafe
2521 SE Clinton St. DJ Drew Groove
Eagle Portland
835 N Lombard St DMTV with DJ Danimal
Lodge
6605 SE Powell Blvd DJ Easy Finger
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Nico Suave
The Analog
720 SE Hawthorne S.Y.N.T.
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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PERFORMANCE
Nov. 6–12
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
FEATURE A M y M A R T I N I L L U S T R AT I O N . C O M
Most prices listed are for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and so-called convenience charges may apply, so it’s best to call ahead. Editor: REBECCA JACOBSON. Theater: REBECCA JACOBSON (rjacobson@wweek.com). Dance: AARON SPENCER (dance@wweek.com). TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit information at least two weeks in advance to: rjacobson@wweek.com.
THEATER OPENINGS & PREVIEWS American Idiot
The touring Broadway show—a musical adaptation of Green Day’s rock opera, which The New York Times called “thrillingly raucous and gorgeously wrought”—stops in Portland for six days. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 241-1802. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday and 1 and 6:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 12-17. $25-$75.
No, No, A Million Times No! (Only a Farmer’s Daughter)
Mask & Mirror Community Theatre, based in the Tigard-Tualatin area, presents an old-timey musical melodrama set on a farm. Calvin Presbyterian Church, 10445 SW Canterbury Lane, Tigard, 691-1779. 7:30 pm FridaysSaturdays and 2 pm Sundays through Nov. 24. $12.
Our Town (Reed College)
Reed College inaugurates its new performing arts center—a $28 million building that opened in September— with a production of Thornton Wilder’s classic directed by Kate Bredeson. The 1938 play is popular in Portland right now: In addition to this Reed production, it’s being staged this month by Liminal Performance Group and Portland State University. Reed College Performing Arts Building, SE 28th Ave. and Botsford Drive, 777-7284. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays through Nov. 16. $3-$7.
Portland Puppet Slam
Beady Little Eyes is one of the groups behind Portland’s obsession with puppets, and it hosts tonight’s bounty of short puppet plays. Not safe for the young’uns, this roundup of raucous puppet theater features whimsical wooden marionettes made by North Carolinian Madison J. Cripps and decidedly creepier ones from Portlander Geahk Burchill. Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate Ave., 286-9449. 8 pm Friday, Nov. 8. $8-$10.
Song of the Dodo
Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble produced one of last season’s most surprising and arresting shows, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. PETE’s next work is a collaboratively devised piece of dance, theater and song that draws from texts by ancient Greek playwrights, Samuel Beckett and contemporary writers. Based on a short video featuring company members tiptoeing around in frilly white dresses—and another of them squatting and squawking wildly— it won’t be like anything else you’ll see on a Portland stage this fall. Studio 2, 810 SE Belmont St. 8 pm ThursdaysSundays through Nov. 24. $12-$40.
NEW REVIEWS Fall of the Band Season Two
An onstage reincarnation of the dying TV sitcom, Action/Adventure Theater’s Fall of the Band is an entertaining theatrical alloy combining Friends and Portlandia. Season subscribers and one-off viewers alike can enjoy the lighthearted snafus of mohawked exjunkie Heath and his band Ghost Dad as they pursue Doug Fir notoriety. It’s like watching a ’90s sitcom brought to life and populated by your favorite wannabe rock stars while nursing a few beers at the Slammer. A few cast members even boast real-life musical careers, so Ghost Dad’s musical forays mercifully don’t suck. With a set plot but no script, Fall of the Band’s veteran actors freely speckle Portland-centric inside jokes (and digs at Portland Playhouse) throughout, to
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the delight of the small space’s audience. Scenes occasionally languish, but at a snappy 60 minutes, episodes are more peppy than ponderous. At episode two, a live-action recap of one character going rogue, unplanned gay embraces and exuberant audience interaction topped the most advanced technology, hi-def be damned. Beer is available for purchase; the only thing missing from a night of couch-potato indulgence is your own musty sofa. ENID SPITZ. Action/Adventure Theatre, 1050 SE Clinton St. 8 pm ThursdaysSundays through Nov. 24. $10-$14; season pass $45.
Salome
Let’s not mince words: Salome is batshit, and so is every single character in it. John the Baptist is a raving narcissist insane with thoughts of God; the silverbacked King Herod is a blustering, incestuous lecher; his wife, Herodias, is Petra von Kant by way of Lucille Bluth. And Salome herself? She’s Richard Strauss’ turn-of-thecentury embodiment of demoniac female sex, a budding girl wreaking havoc in the wake of impetuous desire. At this Portland Opera production, set in a crumbling and claustrophobic Middle Eastern palace, director Stephen Lawless plays this all for maximum camp. Kelly Cae Hogan is a nimble-voiced, full-throated wonder as Salome, even as she hurls herself around like a rag-doll dummy. The formidable Rosalind Lindstrom presides comically from above as Herodias, rigidly imperious and lit like a villainess. Strauss’ modernist, expressionistic orchestration swells, occasionally competing with the vocals. It might as well be a Rainer Werner Fassbinder movie, or the high-school noir of Brick, and this production seems to have been exercised with a similar selfconsciousness, including some jarring racial/ethnic characterizations that stop just short of actual parody. But all that intensity, unfortunately—the musical parts clanging around against each other at maximum volume, the dramatic contradictions amped for stage effect—leads to flatness in the production’s momentum. The opera becomes a static composition, no matter how lurid: a still life in batshit. And so at that point, it doesn’t quite matter if Salome kisses the lips of a bloody head. And it doesn’t matter if the sword chops, or the knife plunges, or the sky falls. The sky’s been falling from the very first note. But what the production lacks in dynamics, it makes up for with humor and spectacle. As Peggy Lee always knew, once you’ve shown them all there is, there’s nothing to do but dance. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 800-745-3000. 7:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 9. $20 and up.
ALSO PLAYING 9 to 5: The Musical
As lights go down and a Dolly Parton image suddenly appears projected above the minimal scenery, there’s an unwelcome whiff of Branson, Mo., that would strangle most musicals before the first chorus. But however inane the preamble or insulting the implication, one likes to give Dolly the benefit of the doubt. This theatrical adaptation of the movie 9 to 5certainly relishes the easy humor of obsolete technology. But while the inefficiency of electric typewriters isn’t explicitly linked to the garrulous misbehavior of unabashed sexists, the air of impending extinction enlivens a feminism-for-beginners romp packed with memorable tunes and winning performances. As the long-suffering office manager, Lisamarie Harrison wields a
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
CONT. on page 43
THEIR TOWNS OUR TOWN, THREE WAYS. BY r eBecca jacoB soN
rjacobson@wweek.com
Our Town has become code for cloying sentimentality, the sort of white-bread drama trotted out regularly by high-school theater departments. But if you pay attention to Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play, it’s not at all saccharine. Wilder tells you how people die as soon as he introduces them. There’s a drunk no one has the courage to help. The final scene, set in a cemetery, has been described as a seance with the dead. Stylistically, Wilder broke all sorts of rules: He stripped the set of scenery and broke the fourth wall by having characters directly address the audience. Early performances confused and even disgusted audiences. The New Yorker ran a cartoon of three women at a ticket booth, with one asking, “Does this play have scenery?” Today, the mention of Wilder’s Pulitzer Prizewinning play is more likely to prompt eye-rolling. But that hasn’t stopped three Portland directors from opening their own versions this month: college productions at Reed and Portland State, and one by the avant-garde Liminal Performance Group. The three directors sat down to discuss what drew them to Our Town, why the play persists and how they’re updating it with closed-circuit video, gender-bent casting and Oreos. Here are excerpts from that conversation (read the full version at wweek.com). WW: Why did you choose to direct Our Town? John Berendzen, Liminal: Liminal has always done installation art and performed plays in different ways, but I was telling a collaborator that I just wanted to direct a straight play. And he said, “Ha, why don’t you do Our Town?” It was like a dare, as the most normal play you could do. And I read it and realized it’s not really normal. It’s extremely experimental and totally has the modernist agenda. Kate Bredeson, Reed: We are opening our new Performing Arts Building at Reed, and I wanted to pick something big and iconic and classic and, I thought, straightforward. Lies! It’s totally lies. What are other misconceptions? Lorraine Bahr, Portland State: Everyone thinks of this quaint little stereotype. Bredeson: When I told the students, they were stunned. It has this completely saccharine reputa-
tion as being this little high-school love story, when in fact I think it’s one of the darkest plays ever written. I feel like it’s a manifesto. I feel like this play is Wilder saying, “Wake up. All of you out there watching this play, wake up. There is never another day like today. Everyday you eat your breakfast. Everyday you sit down and have a conversation, and that is a gift. It’s time to start realizing it.” Bahr: I am so taken with Wilder’s perspective that all those moments—those moments of “I love you” or “I miss you”—are so unique for everyone, but they happen billions and billions and billions of times. Wilder had grown tired of the theater at the time because it was so consumed with making it so specific and tying it to time and place, and he wanted to connect it to the universal. How are you updating it for 2013? Berendzen: We’re doing some closed-circuit video, particularly for the flashback sequence in the cemetery. We wanted the dead people to be the real flesh-andbones people, but the live people to be phantoms. Bredeson: For us, we’re trying to help people see anew things they think they know. George is played by a woman. Mrs. Gibbs is played by a man. Rebecca is played by a man. Our stage manager is a woman. Another way was instead of shelling beans, they’re taking apart Oreos. I’m not sure we’ll keep that. Why are people still performing this play? Bredeson: An old college professor said to me, “You can do this play with just chairs on a stage. You don’t need anything.” The thing that’s so surprising about this play is that the text is foolproof. It’s structurally flawless. Berendzen: That’s the problem we had, that it’s so good. How do we get around that? Our answer has been pauses and very brief sequences that break out of text and help remind people that it’s not just a string of words. I didn’t want to trash it. I didn’t want to go totally David Lynch with it. Bredeson: There are a lot of what I’ve been calling wink-wink moments—those comments like, “Everyone’s meant to live two-by-two.” I think the whole play is commenting on perceived social conventions. I don’t actually think it’s about a white town in New Hampshire in 1901. The older you get, the more devastating it is. For me, at base level, the play is about the fact that we could all be dead in four hours. We could all be dead right now. SEE IT: Reed College’s production of Our Town opens this weekend at the Performing Arts Building, SE 28th Avenue and Botsford Drive, 777-7284. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays through Nov. 16. $3-$7. Look for information about PSU’s and Liminal’s productions in next week’s paper.
nov. 6–12
Maleficia
String House Theatre presents what’s sure to be a doozy of a devised work directed by Joel Harmon. The nonverbal production relies on sound design and movement to explore witchcraft, malevolence, cruelty and violence, asking what prompts good people to turn on their fellow community members. Those seeking first-date material should best look elsewhere. Shout House, 210 SE Madison St., Ste. 11. 10 pm Thursdays-Saturdays; 8 pm Friday, Nov. 1 and Sunday, Nov. 10. Through Nov. 16. $10.
The Outgoing Tide
salome devastating comic timing that threatens to bring down the house with every underplayed aside, but her deadpan venom isn’t of the same theatrical universe as the telegraphed shrillness Amy Jo Halliday thrusts upon newly hired Judy’s plucky ineptitude. Though Harrison proves herself a capable singer, her limitations of register are inevitably magnified when set directly against Halliday’s showstopping vocals. Stephanie Heuston, in Parton’s role as Doralee, handles the heaviest lifting of a misunderstood “Backwoods Barbie” with full voice and electric presence. Even though the actresses never fade seamlessly into their roles in this Stumptown Stages’ presentation, that may be just the point. JAY HORTON. Brunish Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 381-8686. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays and some Saturdays through Nov. 10. $25-$40.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Oregon Children’s Theatre’s Young Professionals Company—made up of actors between the ages of 13 and 18—presents the much-loved, rapidfire comedy, which squeezes all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays into less than two hours. Oregon Children’s Theatre Young Professionals Studio Theatre, 1939 NE Sandy Blvd., 228-9571. 7 pm FridaysSaturdays and 2 pm Sundays through Nov. 10. $10-$12.
Corrido Calavera
As the 18th installment in Milagro Theatre’s annual Day of the Dead series, the original production Corrido Calavera must live up to a long history of outrageous and poignant theater. Chilling, though, this isn’t. As the lights fade in, four skeletons whispering and pushing around two coffins is about as scary as Corrido Calavera gets. The coffins open, bearing a confused Manuel (Enrique E. Andrade) and Amanda (Tricia Castañeda-Gonzales), who demand answers. “The two of you have passed on to the other side,” the leader of the skeletons explains to the couple, but Amanda is in disbelief. “You mean we’re in Mexico?” It’s the first of many near-perfect one-liners, which, though much denser in act one, ensure that Corrido Calavera is one of the funniest plays to hit Portland this season. If the laughs tend to be early in the performance, the message hits home in the finale. Manuel and Amanda, who struggled in their marriage while still alive, must battle the ominous and omnipresent D. Inc.— and its CEO/mascot, Muerte Mouse, dressed and acting like an Adbusters parody of Mickey. The ending is wholesome and happy—isn’t it always in D. films?—but the skeletons, especially the Southern drawling Mariel Sierra and the bombastic Nelda Reyes, make you laugh till you’re dead. MITCH LILLIE. Miracle Theatre, 525 SE Stark St., 236-7253. 7:30 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays through Nov. 10. $15-$26.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
We all do bad things. Whether that’s pirating your neighbor’s wireless signal or pouring acid onto a prostitute’s face just depends on your level of commitment. So for all its social commentary about good versus evil and the duality
of man, Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde remains fascinating and horrifying simply because, on some level, we know it’s true. Like a cross between Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Theatre Vertigo’s production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is fast-paced, gleefully wicked and undeniably cool. The story is familiar, with Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation staying relatively faithful to the original tale, and director Bobby Bermea keeps the action brisk. At its violent climaxes, we see briefly lit snapshots of morbidly beautiful choreography: a cane poised to strike, a howling cry, a face contorted in pain. The set consists of little more than two doors and minimal props, but the explosive performances transport the action to the seedy streets of London. Cleverly hinting at the evil in all of us, the fiend Edward Hyde is portrayed by not one but six actors throughout the performance, with the persona often leaping from person to person during his grisly transformations. But he’s played primarily by Heath Koerschgen, who displays a suave demeanor and a surprising amount of sympathy, especially in his love for the feisty but naive Elizabeth Jelkes (Karen Wennstrom). So for whom do we root? Despite Hyde’s ruthless nature, it’s hard not to feel a thrill when he emerges, top hat and cane in hand. We, too, are transfixed by his actions, just like the maid who witnesses his horrific deeds from a window. “The good in me would have called out sooner,” she says, “but the bad in me wanted to watch.” PENELOPE BASS. Shoebox Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 306-0870. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays through Nov. 23. $20.
I Wander, It Calls
Well Arts, which runs workshops with disenfranchised groups, presents a lyrical play written by people with diagnoses of mental illness and performed by professional actors. Portland Actors Conservatory, 1436 SW Montgomery St., 459-4500. 7:30 pm Fridays and 2 pm Saturdays through Nov. 9. $10.
Inspecting Carol
Halloween is over, which means local theater companies are rolling out the tinsel. Lakewood Theatre Company, ever early to the Christmas rush, presents a backstage comedy about a haphazard production of The Christmas Carol. Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 6353901. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm some Sundays and 7 pm some Sundays. No show on Thanksgiving. Through Dec. 8. $32.
Magic Tree House: A Night in New Orleans
Oregon Children’s Theatre presents a tale based on the Magic Tree Housebooks about a boy and girl who travel back in time to New Orleans in 1915, where they hang out with a teenage Louis Armstrong, learn about jazz and meet some pirate ghosts. With a live score by a jazz ensemble, the production is recommended for kids 4 and up. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 228-9571. 2 and 5 pm Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays through
CoHo Productions’ The Outgoing Tide digs into hefty stuff: Playwright Bruce Graham tackles the dilemmas faced when a family member has Alzheimer’s disease, along with moral, ethical and emotional conflicts relating to the right to die. The plot isn’t revolutionary, nor is the reliance on humor to temper the heartbreak. Flashback scenes, which provide emotional backstory, are similarly standard. Thankfully, director Stephanie Mulligan has a superb take on Graham’s candid sadness and blunt humor, managing to streamline the somewhat unwieldy flashbacks and steer clear of melodramatic timing. Gunner (Tobias Andersen) has rapidly developing Alzheimer’s and frustratingly fades in and out of cognizance. Wife Peg and son Jack must cope with Gunner’s forgetfulness and confusion, as well as his constant requests to have pancakes “tomorrow.” And, inevitably, they must contend with his determination to “tie up loose ends” on his own terms, while he still has the ability to do so. Andersen shines as a feisty and lovable Gunner, while Jane Fellows is simultaneously grating and endearing as his wife. As Jack, meanwhile, Gary Norman skillfully conveys his character’s sadness and sense of mediocrity. This outstanding trio prompts audiences to zip between laughter and tears for the full 105-minute runtime. Thanks to a resoundingly stellar cast, The Outgoing Tide is a mustsee. JEN LEVINSON. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 220-2646. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays through Nov. 9. $20-$25.
Ruckus in the Lobby
Traveling Lantern Theatre Company, a touring troupe that presents interactive children’s theater, brings a series of Saturday-morning performances to the Artists Rep lobby. The company will rotate three shows in the fall—The Caterpillar Hunter (a backyard “vegetable safari” led by a character based on Steve Irwin), Greek Mythology (tales of gods and mortals) and Bilbo’s Journey (which is just what it sounds like)—before a six-week run of A Christmas Carol in the winter. Performances last about 45 minutes and are recommended for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade. See travelinglantern.com for full schedule. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 241-1278. 10:30 am Saturdays through Dec. 28. $5.
The Submission
“It’s only a bullet if you load the gun with it,” says Danny, a playwright. He’s referring to the N-word, but he might as well be describing the shortcomings of The Submission, a play by Jeff Talbott. The story has plenty of ammo: It centers on Danny, a gay white playwright who has written a moving drama about a black family in the projects and, in a bid to increase its chances of being produced, has submitted it under the patently ridiculous pseudonym of Shaleeha G’ntamobi. When the play is actually accepted at a theater festival, Danny enlists a black actress to pose as the playwright. The bullets—all the racial and homophobic slurs you’d expect, pitched during debates about who corners the market on oppression—are there. What’s missing is the gun: a robust dramatic framework to give those munitions any firepower. Absent that, Defunkt Theatre’s season opener winds up talky but toothless. At the beginning, Danny (Matthew
Kern) is buoyant and hopeful. But as the play clumps along, he proves to be an utterly callous, out-of-touch, racist lout. Talbott provides no reason for Danny’s outrageous insensitivity, and Kern’s oily and arrogant portrayal hardly helps. Other performers fare better, particularly Matthew Dieckman, who is honest, wry and grounded as Danny’s good friend. But the entire cast is hampered by Talbott’s script. From a nonsensical line about Hitler eating kugel to racist remarks that fail to add anything new to the conversation about race in American theater (“He’s too African-y,” Danny says about an actor), The Submission has plenty of talk but astonishingly little to say. REBECCA JACOBSON. The Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 7:30
pm Thursdays-Sundays through Nov. 23. $15-$25 sliding scale, Thursdays and Sundays are “pay what you can.”
Wilde Tales
Oscar Wilde’s two collections of fairy tales, which he wrote “not for children but for childlike people,” explore the ambiguity of the heart and the illogical nature of love. Adapted by Portland playwright Karin Magaldi and directed by Samantha Van Der Merwe, Wilde Tales unfolds through six loosely linked stories that come to life like a pop-up book. A fisherman who has fallen in love with a mermaid abandons his soul to live with her, and the soul must wander the land alone,
CONT. on page 44
REVIEW OWEN CAREY
C O R Y W E AV E R
Nov. 10 (no 5 pm show Saturday, Nov. 9). $15-$30.
PERFORMANCE
a little rain must fall: Joshua Weinstein (center) on the vulpine hunt.
FOXFINDER (ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE) From the beginning of Foxfinder, it’s clear we’ve entered an off-kilter world. Even the set is askew: The stage slopes in different directions, and a door frame slants sharply to one side. The first person to come through that door is William Bloor, a government agent who’s traveled to the countryside to investigate a possible fox infestation. As he stands in the rain, tall and wiry and towering over the couple he’s about to interrogate, we know this dystopian world won’t right itself anytime soon. British playwright Dawn King’s Foxfinder, in its U.S. debut at Artists Rep, is a singular and somewhat slippery piece of theater. Set in rural England at an indeterminate time, this post-apocalyptic parable finds a couple, Judith and Samuel, faced with floods on their farm and mourning the death of their son. In drops William, an ascetic 19-year-old tasked with annihilating foxes. The dreaded creature has been deemed responsible for destroying farmland—and for disturbing the weather, corrupting minds and fomenting anarchy among the population. That no one has seen a fox in years only bolsters the argument against the beast. The longer William remains, the more paranoid the villagers become. Dámaso Rodriguez’s taut direction plays up the sense of foreboding, with an ominous soundscape and disquieting lighting design. He draws strong performances from the cast, even if they sometimes bulldoze through the silences. As Judith, Sara Hennessy stops just shy of overwrought excess, while Shawn Lee spirals into delusion as Samuel. But it’s Joshua Weinstein who most impresses, playing William not as an unhinged loony or hardened cynic but as a tormented young man who seeks comfort however he can, even in self-flagellation. Though the symbol of the fox wears thin—it’s clearly a scapegoat for all the dangers and fears of an irrational world—King strikes a balance of specificity and mystery that keeps the audience engaged. Foxfinder has been compared to The Crucible, but while that play used the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for McCarthyism, King’s tale drops few hints about its bleak context. Still, given our current culture of NSA snoops and imprisoned whistle-blowers, it’s hard not to see the specter of the surveillance state in Foxfinder—an argument about how we find what we’re looking for, no matter how scant, slippery or strange the evidence. REBECCA JACOBSON.
The post-apocalyptic craze hits the stage.
see it: Foxfinder is at Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 241-1278. 7:30 pm Wednesdays-Sundays and 2 pm Sundays through Dec. 1. $25-$55. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 8pm. All Ages
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NOV. 6–12
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THURSDAY, NOVERMBER 7 9pm (doors open at 8pm). All Ages
TEN FOOT MOUSE SWEEPING EXITS HOODED HAGS $5.00 at the door.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 9pm 21 & over
SHROUD OF THE HERETIC DILAPIDATIO A N ATIO HERETICON MAMMOTH SALMON $6.00 at the door.
POLARIS DANCE THEATRE
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 All Ages
The church of rocknroll Presents... NEKROFILTH CEMETERY LUST WEREGOAT A AT STONED SHITLESS CHRONIC TOMB $5.00 at the door.
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encountering a selfish giant, a generous statue, self-sacrificing birds and a heartbroken dwarf. The intimate space at Shaking the Tree Theatre serves the show well—the six actors become whispering silhouettes behind backlit scrims, surrounding the audience like words floating up from the page. The stage direction is so simple and elegant it becomes art in itself. As if exploring a whimsical playground, the actors both play their central characters and provide their own third-person narration, and at other times they embody the plants, birds, walls, wind—and it all works magically. Each shift in expression, change in voice and delicate movement becomes transfixing. Whether or not you walk away with any grand new theories about love, you’ll certainly leave with a little more childlike wonder. PENELOPE BASS. Shaking the Tree Studio, 1407 SE Stark St., 2350635. 7:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Saturdays and 5 pm Sundays through Nov. 9. $22.
COMEDY & VARIETY ComedySportz
pnca.edu
Family-friendly competitive improv comedy. ComedySportz, 1963 NW Kearney St., 236-8888. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays. $15.
Diabolical Experiments
Improv jam show featuring Brody performers and other local improvisers. Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 224-2227. 7 pm every Sunday. $5.
Dom-Prov
If your idea of fun is playing improv games with a leather-clad dominatrix as an audience hurls marshmallows at you, this Unscriptables show is for you. Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave., 309-3723. 10 pm every Saturday. $10.
The Eric Andre Show Live
Eric Andre hosts a live version of his gleefully anarchic late-night talk show, with all the real and fake celebrities you’d expect. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave. 9 pm Friday, Nov. 8. $12-$15. 21+.
Friday Night Fights
BFA OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 9:00 am –12:00 pm PNCA Campus 1241 NW Johnson Street Portland, OR
Competitive improv, with two teams battling for stage time. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 477-9477. 10 pm every first and third Friday. $5.
Garfunkel & Oates
Folk-comedy duo Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, who sing deceptively twee songs about smug pregnant women and anal sex, recently had their show picked up by IFC. Before it premieres in 2014, catch these funny women live. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888643-8669. 7:30 and 10 pm FridaySaturday, Nov. 8-9. $22-$29.
Late Night Action With Alex Falcone
Comedian Alex Falcone, supported
44
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
by sidekick Bri Pruett, hosts a live talk show with musical performances, sketch comedy and interviews with interesting Portlanders. Action/Adventure Theatre, 1050 SE Clinton St. 10:30 pm Saturdays, Nov. 9 and Dec. 7. $10-$15.
Mixology
Late-night comedy show with improv, sketch and stand-up. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 477-9477. 10 pm every second and fourth Saturday. $5.
Open Court
Team-based long-form improv open to audience members and performers of all stripes. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 477-9477. 8 pm every first and third Thursday. $5.
Rex Navarrete
The Filipino-American comic returns to Helium for a two-night stint. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888643-8669. 8 pm Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 6-7. $15-$20.
Script Tease
Using unfinished works by Portland playwrights, performers launch into staged readings—and then improvise once the scripted pages run out. Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 224-2227. 7:30 pm Saturdays through Nov. 30. $10-$12.
Weekly Recurring Humor Night
Whitney Streed hosts a weekly comedy showcase, featuring local comics and out-of-towners. Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., 2380543. 9:30 pm every Wednesday. “Pay what you want,” $3-$5 suggested.
You Are Here
The Brody folks present a new weekly improv showcase. Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 224-2227. 7:30 pm every Friday. $12.
DANCE Boyeurism
This all-male burlesque revue features Esequiel and Isaiah of Burlesquire, as well as other guys in G-strings. Angelique DeVil hosts. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave. 10 pm Thursday, Nov. 7. $10-$15. 21+.
Convergence: The Jungle
Dance is only part of this Amazonthemed DJ dance party. The acts include belly dancer Nagasita, who is going to charm a live snake, and the Bridgetown Revue belly dancers. B-boy group Icontis battles onstage, combining breaking, tutting, waving and pop and lock. LED-hooping by Revol Artists rounds out the night. Refuge, 116 SE Yamhill St. 9 pm Saturday, Nov. 9. $15-$25. 21+.
paradigms. In this case, the wheel—a not-so-uncommon dance trope—is the wheel of life. LaPointe says that as the wheel spins, you can “choose to hang on, let go or find balance somewhere in between.” From the Kickstarter video,the piece appears slow, fluid and completely abstract. LaPointe seems to leave it up to the audience to draw meaning from it. Will it be life-changing? That’s probably up to you. The Headwaters, 55 NE Farragut St., No. 9. 8 pm FridaySaturday, Nov. 8-9. $12-$20.
Jefferson Dancers
These high-school dancers need money if they’re going to keep performing internationally. The fundraiser is a chance to meet them and artistic director Steve Gonzales. The theme is “A Night in Little Havana,” so Latin food is provided and easy-listening band Ocean 503 performs. PulsePDX, 3602 NE Sandy Blvd. 6:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 9. $20-$25.
Phoenix Variety Revue
Burlesque madame and drag performer Zora Phoenix hosts her monthly variety show. Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington St., 228-3669. 7:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 10. $10. 21+.
Polaris Dance Theatre
The show X-Philes doesn’t have much to do with The X-Files. The “X” stands for Polaris’ 10-year anniversary. Didn’t Polaris celebrate its 10th year last year, you ask? Yes, it did—the company was founded in 2002. But anniversaries are good for marketing, so this year Polaris is compiling a retrospective of its shows from the past 10 years, including its first-ever performance. The show includes iChange, a piece about human relationships over a lifetime (that has little to do with Apple products), the Motown inspired Lil’ Mo and Tangled, the show it celebrated its 10-year anniversary with last year. Polaris Contemporary Dance Center, 1501 SW Taylor St., 380-5472. 7:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays, Nov. 1-10. $17.50-$25.
TopShakeDance
Jim McGinn’s piece inspired by a cold, dark ocean is backed by a score of watery-sounding recordings. The piece, which McGinn came up with while swimming in the ocean, depicts what it’s like to be alone in the ocean at night: the fear of what swims beneath, the threat of hypothermia and the wandering of the mind. Dancers Michelle Call, Dana Detweiler, Chase Hamilton and Amanda Morse join McGinn in the piece. Conduit Dance, 918 SW Yamhill St., Suite 401, 221-5857. 8:30 pm Friday-Sunday, Nov. 1-3 and Wednesday-Friday Nov. 6-8. $12-$25.
Esther LaPointe
The Wheel, choreographer Esther LaPointe’s second full-length piece, is a look at change so great it shifts
For more Performance listings, visit
VISUAL ARTS
NOV. 6–12
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. By RICHARD SPEER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit show information—including opening and closing dates, gallery address and phone number—at least two weeks in advance to: Visual Arts, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: rspeer@wweek.com.
and you’d be left with the contours of pure euphoria: a certain night when everything seemed perfect, and the lights on the marquee of the Schnitz reflected the gleam in your lover’s eyes. There’s something irresistibly treacly about this kind of vision, which is simultaneously the strength and weakness of Flohr’s paintings. Nov. 7-30. Shaffer Fine Art Gallery, 308 SW 1st Ave., Suite 158, 295-4979.
Michael T. Hensley: New Works
Exuberant, fanciful and just a little wack, Michael T. Hensley’s mixedmedia works blend painting and drawing. In the imagery in the show’s 40-odd pieces, there’s something for everyone: faces, landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, airplanes, wine bottles, chemistry beakers, fried eggs, salt shakers, cacti, ice cream cones, cherries. Wisely, Hensley counterbalances this compositional density with judicious use of negative space. Chromatically, he goes for broke, with a palette of bright blues, greens and pinks, lending an atmosphere of whimsy and fantasy. Through Nov. 10. Mark Woolley Gallery @ Pioneer, 700 SW 5th Ave., third floor, Pioneer Place Mall, 9984152.
Paul Soriano: Oblivion
CHEW BONES BY RICK BARTOW
NEWS Portland 2014 Biennial
Disjecta has announced the artists and collectives who’ll participate in the Portland 2014 Biennial. The promising lineup includes: Zachary Davis, Modou Dieng and Devon A. VanHouten-Maldonado, Alex Mackin Dolan, Travis Fitzgerald, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Evan La Londe, Ellen Lesperance, D.E. May, Christopher Michlig and John Zerzan, Personal Libraries Library, Publication Studio, Ralph Pugay, Kelly Rauer, Blair Saxon-Hill, and Richard Thompson. From a field of more than 300 submissions, Los Angeles-based curator Amanda Hunt winnowed the field down to these exhibitors, whose practices range from painting and sculpture to conceptual and performance art. The Biennial opens March 8, 2014, and runs through April 27.
SHOWING Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen: A Series of Rectangles
Impossibly precious and precocious husband-and-wife team Anna Gray + Ryan Wilson Paulsen (notice the plus sign used in lieu of an ampersand) present artworks made during a residency in Omaha, Neb. The work centers on political texts and poetry. Through Nov. 30. PDX Contemporary Art, 925 NW Flanders St., 222-0063.
Contemporary Northwest Art Awards
Expansive, thoughtful and dramatically installed, the biannual Contemporary Northwest Art Awards didn’t disappoint this year. Curator Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson has created a spectacular survey
of artwork across a diverse field of practices, filling—but not overfilling—a generous exhibition space with work by artists from Oregon (Karl Burkheimer), Washington (Isaac Layman, Nicholas Nyland and the single-monikered artist known as Trimpin), Montana (Anne Appleby) and Wyoming (Abbie Miller). As heterogeneous as these artists’ works are, somehow LaingMalcolmson makes them cohere spatially and thematically. Through Jan. 12. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave., 226-0973.
Jock Bradley: Time Sands Still
They have the same first name: Jock Sturges and Jock Bradley. Sturges may be famous (and in some circles infamous) as the photographic chronicler of the nude body, but Bradley has made a name for himself by photographically chronicling the landscape in ways that evoke the nude body. His images of sand dunes in New Mexico and Colorado capture the sands’ peaks and troughs with an astute sense of shadow play that underlines their formal and thematic ties with the human body. Dunes and bodies are mutable; they rise and fall by the caprices of weather and time. Bradley intuits this and captures it in sumptuous black-and-white. Nov. 7-Dec. 31. Gallery 903, 903 NW Davis St., 248-0903.
Michael Flohr
Michael Flohr calls himself a “modern urban impressionist,” which means he paints cityscapes, interiors and still lifes in a fuzzy, washy style that evokes the haze of idealized memory. His images of various cities, including Portland, are the sort you would conjure if you loved a town but had to leave it for good. In your memories, all the quotidian details would fade,
Paul Soriano departs from his serene portraiture in a new suite of oil paintings entitled Oblivion. There’s nothing serene about these works, with their hyperkinetic undergirding of gestures, swarming underneath the paintings’ surfaces like hornets. The works’ subject matter also has a vespine sense of danger and agitation. In the imagery, Soriano confronts psychosexual demons he has never before explored in his exhibited work. The wild-haired figure in Shaman in the Twilight of his Days, the erect male nude in Lost (in the Valley of Pleasure) and the bare-assed youth confronted by clothed boys in At the Crossroad (Kill the Pig) all illuminate dark corners of the sexual psyche in a manner recalling the feverish erotic fantasias of painter Eric Fischl. Through Nov. 7. Cock Gallery, 625 NW Everett St., No. 106, 552-8686.
Resistance
Curator Insa Evans has themed this eight-artist show around the idea of resistance. What happens— aesthetically, politically, personally—when our needs or desires are thwarted? Evans believes the answer is growth, and she sought to find out how this idea would be interpreted across diverse media by the artists in the show: Katherine Kimmerle, Jason Lee, Daniel Mackin, Carly Mandell, Justin Moore, Jennifer Rabin, Austin Turley and Shannon Willis. Since arguably all art worth looking at comes from some manifestation of inner friction, there’s a danger this show could turn out hackneyed and redundant—so it’ll be interesting to see whether Evans can draw some blood out of a potentially cold, dry stone. Nov. 7-10. Place Gallery, 700 SW 5th Ave., third floor, Pioneer Place Mall.
Theatre Vertigo Presents
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Rick Bartow: Bird Wings
Part human, part beast, part spirit: That’s what Rick Bartow’s stylized figures typically consist of. The artist, a member of the Wiyot tribe of Northern California, integrates his native heritage into his work, infusing figure studies with mystical overtones. There is an undercurrent of polymorphous perversity to his paintings and drawings, bespeaking a fluidity of identity. We can all shape-shift, his works seem to proclaim; we are limited only by the parameters of our imaginations. Through Dec. 13. Froelick Gallery, 714 NW Davis St., 222-1142.
For more Visual Arts listings, visit
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher Oct. 25–Nov. 23 Thurs–Sat @ 7:30pm / Sun @ 2:00pm www.theatrevertigo.org / 503-306-0870 Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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NOV. 6–12 HOT SEAT
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. By PENELOPE BASS. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit lecture or reading information at least two weeks in advance to: WORDS, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: words@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
THURSDAY, NOV. 7 Lemony Snicket
Known for his unfortunate events and illadvised adventures, pseudo-children’s author Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) reads from the second book in his new All the Wrong Questions series, When Did You See Her Last? Bring along some kids if you feel like you need a cover. A Children’s Place Bookstore, 4807 NE Fremont St., 284-8294. 6:30 pm. Free.
Natalie Serber and Stevan Allred
Natalie Serber and Stevan Allred read from their new short-story collections. In Shout Her Lovely Name, Serber explores the lives of multiple generations of flawed yet resilient women. In A Simplified Map of the Real World: The Renata Stories, Allred’s 15 linked tales document the sometimesbizarre lives of rural Oregon residents. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726. 7 pm. Free.
Poetry Press Week
Modeled after the idea of fashion week, where designers present new work to a fashion-industry audience, Poetry Press Week brings together local poets Matthew Dickman, Carl Adamshick, Britta Ameel, Zachary Schomburg and Ashley Toliver to share new, unpublished work with the literary community. Each poet has 10 minutes to present their work however they choose, but may not read it themselves. A select audience of editors, publishers and press considers the work for publication, and the public is invited to watch the show. Literary Arts Center, 925 SW Washington St., 227-2583. 7 pm. Free.
Stories From the Field
Working in global regions embroiled in conflict, from Iraq and Yemen to Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mercy Corps workers face myriad challenges in providing aid. Their Youth and Conflict team discusses how they deal with traumatized young people and children with the presentation “Youth in Conflict Zones.” Mercy Corps, 45 SW Ankeny St., 896-5000. 7 pm. Free.
FRIDAY, NOV. 8 Tavi Gevinson
bleed trim
Gaining more fame at age 12 than most bloggers ever hope to get, Tavi Gevinson first amassed a following with her blog, Style Rookie. Shortly after, she was featured in The New York Times and invited to fashion weeks across the globe. By 15, she began to shift her focus to pop culture and feminist discussion, and founded Rookie, an online magazine. Now, at age 17, she is promoting the second book in her Rookie Yearbook series.
Q Center, 4115 N Mississippi Ave., 2347837. 7 pm. Free.
SATURDAY, NOV. 9 Printdustrial
Ever longed to explore the ink-smeared underbelly of Portland’s independent presses? Now’s the time, as six local publication studios open their doors for the Printdustrial self-guided studio tour. Independent Publishing Resource Center, 1001 SE Division St., Suite 2, 827-0249. 11am-4pm. Free.
SUNDAY, NOV. 10 Graham Nash
We all like to live vicariously through the lives of rock stars. Fortunately, most of them don’t have any reservations about sharing every sordid detail. Music legend Graham Nash is no exception. In his new autobiography, Wild Tales, Nash shares all about his childhood in post-war England; gaining fame with the Hollies; his relationship with Joni Mitchell; his days with Crosby, Stills & Nash; and plenty of anecdotes about the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and others. The songwriter, activist and two-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame reads from his book and talks with Iris Harrison of KGON-FM. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 4 pm. Free.
TUESDAY, NOV. 12 Lindsay Hill
Expanding his literary horizons, Portland poet Lindsay Hill reads from his first novel, Sea of Hooks, a product of nearly 20 years of work. Told in parallel narratives by its protagonist, the book explores a man struggling to align the fragmented parts of his life experiences. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726. 7 pm. Free.
Jewish Voices
For more than a decade, the Oregon Jewish Museum has hosted prominent Jewish authors to share their work for an annual reading and celebration. Reading this year is Kerry Cohen (Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity), David Axelrod (What Next, Old Knife?), Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Blue Thread), Willa Schneberg (In the Margins of the World), Jodi Varon (Drawing to an Inside Straight: The Legacy of an Absent Father) and Yuvi Zalkow (A Brilliant Novel in the Works). Oregon Jewish Museum, 1953 NW Kearney St., 226-3600. 7:30-9 pm. $5-$8.
For more Books listings, visit
TOP OF THE PAPUA
COURTESY KUED
BOOKS
THE POLYMATHIC JARED DIAMOND ON WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM TRIBAL CUSTOMS. Jared Diamond doesn’t think small. At various points a physiologist, ornithologist, ecologist, historian and geographer, Diamond gained renown in 1997 with his book Guns, Germs and Steel, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. That book took on the whole of human history, with the thesis that societies evolved at different rates because of their climates. His 2005 book, Collapse, examined why some societies fail and others don’t. The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies, published last year, is comparatively a more intimate affair, describing the practices of traditional societies to see what modern societies might learn from them. WW talked to Diamond about shower habits and smothering babies. A longer interview can be found at wweek.com. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. WW: I enjoyed your new book. Jared Diamond: Good. You’re obviously a person of discriminating taste. The traditional practices you describe—resolving a fatal car accident by giving “sorry money” in New Guinea, for example—seem relatable to Western readers. There is a certain incommensurability between cultures. [New Guineans] are not wearing manufactured clothes; they don’t write. But you find that people are very much like other people: They cry, they laugh, they’re scared in the same circumstances. In other cases, they act very differently—like the wonderful way they resolve disputes—but there are reasons for this. They’re doing different things. It’s often something we can learn from. Are there practices you’ve adopted? Loads of them. Let’s talk about danger. I have already done the most dangerous thing I will do today: I’ve taken a shower. Were you very careful when you took your shower today about holding onto the bars or stepping on the rough tape on the bottom of the shower? I have neither of those things. In that case, this interview is going to change your life in a good direction. One of the things I learned in New Guinea is that these homely, banal things that we do every day are the most dangerous. I’m 76 years old and you might say, what are the chances I will fall in the shower? Say one in a thousand. And
JARED DIAMOND AND FRIEND
I’ll say, one in a thousand, that’s horrible! I’ve got 15 years of life. That’s 5,475 showers. At my age, you’re going to kill yourself five times before reaching your life expectancy. You referred in your book to a paranoia that New Guineans have about sleeping under dead trees that might fall. I use the term constructive paranoia for what seems to other people like exaggerated fears, but they’re actually appropriate fears given the number of times you do something. Some traditional practices might be difficult to implement in modern society. Lots of examples. In traditional societies, all parents sleep in the same bed with their children. There are modern Americans who’ve learned from this practice. But traditional beds are hard mats. You are unlikely to roll over onto your baby, because you feel the baby. In a soft, modern bed, you roll over onto the baby and you don’t feel the baby. You smother your baby. If you like the idea of sleeping in the same bed as your baby, then by all means. But be sure to get a firm mattress. What’s your next project? National crisis. How people respond to national crises by either changing or failing to change. And the United States has plenty going on today that’ll constitute a crisis if we don’t fix it. Any initial observations? I’m just at the beginning of work on that book. So I’d say, come back in four years and we’ll talk. GO: Jared Diamond speaks at the Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-4335, on Wednesday, Nov. 6. 7:30 pm. $28.
I am not my insurance card
We are WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATES.
www.whallc.com
When you visit our offices, we see you first, not your insurance card. That’s because we believe every woman deserves high-quality healthcare. And that’s why we accept a full range of insurance plans. Chances are, we accept yours. There are other options, as well; talk to us to learn more. 46
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PG. 26
MUSIC
nov. 6-12 REVIEW
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
ANNE MARIE FOx
MOVIES
Editor: REBECCA JACOBSON. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, send screening information at least two weeks in advance to Screen, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: rjacobson@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
12 Years a Slave
A Twelve Years a Slave was part of
a literary tide. When the memoir was published in 1853, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Frederick Douglass’ autobiography were bestsellers, helping to fuel the abolitionist movement. But Solomon Northup’s story was different. Born a free man, he led a comfortable life as a carpenter and violinist with his wife and children in upstate New York in 1841, when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup managed to regain his freedom 12 years later and soon published Twelve Years a Slave, which became a bestseller of its own. But at some point, Northup disappeared and his book fell out of print. Now, it’s little-known outside the halls of academia. All of which makes British director Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave an even more staggering revelation. The film is agonizing but not lurid, compassionate but not melodramatic, patient but still thrilling. McQueen exposes the full extent of slavery’s physical cruelty, from the endless hours of cotton-picking to the capricious acts of violence, as well as the system’s psychological toll. Chiwetel Ejiofor, with stoicism and crushing reserve, plays Northup, a man forced to keep his head down and feign illiteracy. Despite its handful of vicious instances of violence, 12 Years has none of the garish extravagance of last year’s Django Unchained, in which Quentin Tarantino perverted a historical atrocity into a hip-hop-scored spaghetti Western. Perhaps most impressive is that 12 Years a Slave does not feel like an ethical or educational obligation. While its instructive value is undeniable, this is also a rousing portrait, a morally complicated tale and a masterful work of art. It’s not perfect, but it comes damn close. R. REBECCA JACOBSON. Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Bridgeport, Lloyd Center, Fox Tower.
20 Feet From Stardom
A- In 20 Feet From Stardom, Morgan
Neville turns the spotlight on several career backup singers. Most are resigned to their roles in the musical ecosystem, content to have sacrificed their own aspirations for the sake of elevating the art itself. Whether that’s noble or a con, Neville never judges. He just lets them sing. MATTHEW SINGER. Living Room Theaters.
About Time
C In About Time, writer-director Richard Curtis—who scripted Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill—tells yet another tale of a British bloke besotted with an American woman in London. Now, though, there’s a time-travel hook. Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) and Mary (Rachel McAdams) are the destinedto-be-happy couple. The twist is that Tim can visit the past without the pesky problem of running into younger selves. At first this conceit allows for one-trick-pony jokes as Tim benefits from do-overs of amorous mishaps. But the movie ultimately spirals outward from its rom-com roots to encompass family, birth, death and, natch, the meaning of life. As ever, Curtis’ brand of cleverness remains in the realm of the cute while tiptoeing around darker territory. If you could constantly revise the past, how would this affect your morality? Alas, About Time doesn’t go down this enticing rabbit hole, remaining too committed to rutted sentimentality. R. KRISTI MITSUDA. Cedar Hills, Clackamas.
Big Sur
After last year’s On the Road, another cinematic adaptation of a Jack Kerouac novel. Michael Polish’s movie adapts Kerouac’s 1962 autobiographical novel about an author caught in midlife ennui. R. Living Room Theaters.
Captain Phillips
A- You probably already know the
story behind the new Tom Hanks movie, Captain Phillips, because you
heard it first from the helmet-haired hagiographers of cable news. Back in 2009, four Somali pirates boarded a freighter and kidnapped its captain, Richard Phillips (played in the movie by Hanks). They kept him for five days on a lifeboat, demanding a ransom of $10 million, then got their brains blown out of their skulls by Navy SEALs. In outline form, the politics of the plot are problematic for a film: It is the heroic triumph of superior, mostly white American forces against amateurish, violent African criminals. But Paul Greengrass’ film is no Black Hawk Down. Whenever the Navy SEALs emerge, they are seen in blank silhouette, accompanied by the ominous music of alien assault. Though shot with an eerie, disciplined neutrality, this is perhaps the most compassionate piece of filmmaking I’ve seen this year. PG-13. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Sandy.
Carrie
C- Kimberly Peirce’s new take on Stephen King’s seminal high-school tale is gorgeously shot, capably acted and appropriately gruesome. But it also manages the dubious task of being at once horrifically redundant, lazy and irresponsible in its inability to fit itself into the current landscape, one that could desperately use a more thoughtful rethinking of the We exist now in a post-Columbine world, one where the conversation about bullying permeates our cultural consciousness. And it’s in this respect that Peirce’s lack of nuance and inability to reinterpret her source material becomes troubling. Peirce—who gave us one of cinema’s most tragic and heartfelt portraits of victimization with Boys Don’t Cry—just goes through the beats of DePalma’s film and does little to bring its underlying themes into focus. R. AP KRYZA. Eastport, Clackamas, Lloyd Center.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Cheeseburgers, falling from the sky! Again! PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Forest, Oak Grove.
Computer Chess
B [ONE WEEK ONLY] Director
Andrew Bujalski, one of the founding fathers of mumblecore—his Funny Ha Ha kicked off that strain of 20-something talkies—goes his own way in Computer Chess. In this comedic whatsit, the writer-director transplants us to a competition between computer chess software programmers in the early ’80s, before machine had yet beat man at the game. That same weekend, in the same hotel, a couplestherapy workshop is taking place. As these socially awkward techies and overly expressive New Agers intersect, the movie—realistically at first but eventually in subtle sci-fi fashion—muses on that old chestnut: what increasing technological sophistication means for humanity. With much of its black-and-white footage (shot on vintage video cameras for a fitting lo-fi feel) devoted to facial close-ups, you might expect the film to come out on the side of Homo sapiens over artificial intelligence. But Computer Chess isn’t into endgame conclusions, showing the human as suspect as the technological, most hilariously in a scene where a programmer participates in the therapy group’s rebirth ritual: His body is passed between two lines of people until emerging at the end to the victorious cry, “He’s crowning!” KRISTI MITSUDA. Cinema 21.
The Counselor
D+ The Counselor, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Cormac McCarthy (it’s the author’s first original screenplay), is an unmitigated mess. A cautionary tale about drug trafficking and reckless romance, set on the U.S.Mexico border, it’s so full of fauxpoetic mumbo-jumbo and so choppily
CONT. on page 48
LIFE IN THE FaST LaNE: Matthew McConaughey as a homophobic aIDS activist.
COWBOYS DON’T CRY MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY ELECTRIFIES DALLAS BUYERS CLUB. BY MATTHEW SIn GER
msinger@wweek.com
The first time Matthew McConaughey appears onscreen in Dallas Buyers Club—that is, after he’s shown thrusting away at two female rodeo groupies in the shadows of a backstage stall—the reflex is to gasp. That carved-from-amber beach bod, to which we’ve grown so accustomed, has been whittled down to a toothpick. He looks gaunt, almost insectoid, with a head too big for his neck and skin stretched like plastic wrap around his eyes and Adam’s apple, a thick mustache as his antennae. It’s a transformation mirroring that of McConaughey’s career over the past year, ever since the day he woke up, put on a shirt and decided to become the best actor of his generation: The rom-com lothario, with the increasingly selfparodic public image, has withered away. In his place arrives a performer at his peak, in a role that better damn well win him an Oscar, as an AIDS activist the movies have never seen before: a shitkicking, homophobic redneck. That redneck actually existed, too. In 1985, Ron Woodroof, a Dallas electrician, bull rider and pussy-chasing, coke-snorting degenerate, became one of the rare straight men in the early years of the AIDS epidemic to contract HIV. Left out of the trials of an experimental new drug, and frustrated by the grinding inertia of Big Pharma, Woodroof went to Mexico, where, with a cocktail of natural supplements and non-FDA-approved meds prescribed by a de-licensed American doctor, he was nursed back to health. Or, at least, made healthy enough to reinvigorate his instincts as a naturalborn hustler: Figuring there was a great racket in AIDS drugs that actually worked, he returned to Texas and opened a “buyers club.” Operating out of a fleabag motel, he skirted federal regulations by selling “memberships” at a rate of $400 per month and doling out the banned substances for “free.” McConaughey lost more than 30 pounds to play Woodroof, who’s deathly ill when the movie begins, but it isn’t some Method stunt: His survival mechanism is to throw around what little weight he has
left, and the dissonance between his frail figure and intense narcissism gives the role its punch. He’s an antihero in the truest sense, an accidental advocate you’re not sure it’s totally OK to cheer for. Told he has about a month to live, Woodroof proclaims he’s not “a faggot” and declares, “There ain’t nothing out there that can kill Ron Woodroof in 30 days.” You cringe, but at the same time, who can root against that resolve? To the credit of writers Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (whose next project is adapting Portlander Cheryl Strayed’s Wild), Dallas Buyers Club never betrays the man Woodroof actually was. There are no weepy epiphanies, no soliloquies about newfound understanding. His business arrangement with a transvestite named Rayon (Jared Leto, also emaciated, also fantastic) grows beyond a relationship of convenience, but it’s never made obvious. A scene in which Woodroof physically forces one of his old chaw-chewing rodeo buddies to shake Rayon’s hand isn’t really an indication that his ordeal has made him any less of a dirtbag. It is, as with everything he does, about himself, an act of lashing out at those who abandoned him to die alongside a bunch of queers. In this film, the fact that Woodroof would deign to set foot inside a gay bar in order to rope in more members counts as a victory for tolerance. Woodroof enters the film an asshole, and he’s an asshole when it ends. But McConaughey has played enough Texas good ol’ boys that a gleam of Southern charm never leaves his eyes, even when inhabiting the slimiest of characters. In Dallas Buyers Club, that charisma doesn’t just anchor the film but shocks it full of life. This isn’t another movie about the heartbreaking destruction of AIDS—it’s about the sheer human drive to stay alive in its wake. McConaughey, smartly, never makes Woodroof likable, because he knows that’s not the point of his life, which continued for seven more years after his diagnosis. He may have been an asshole, but he was an asshole whose instinct for self-preservation eventually helped extend the lives of millions of better people. And, in the face of a plague, that’s worth more than one jerk’s enlightenment. A Dallas Buyers Club is rated R. It opens Friday at Fox Tower.
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
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COURTESY COMPUTER CHESS LLC
again. One of his last lines in the film is “I’ve missed you.” Well, I’ll miss him, too. PG-13. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Hollywood Theatre.
Escape Plan
C+ Escape Plan is the sort of film they don’t make anymore. Every single element, from choice of fonts to riffdappled score to blithe racism, has been curated to ass-end-of-the-’80s specifications. The central conceit— prison security specialist Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) finds himself mysteriously shunted to a privately operated detention facility housing a hulking graybeard with a thick accent (Arnold Schwarzenegger)—isn’t especially ludicrous, but the reliance on rightfully abandoned modes of storytelling proves torturous. Stallone and Schwarzenegger are in their comfort zone, to be sure. But these sorts of films, these immobile actioners, feel so cramped after a while. And yet. In the final, oddly rousing battle, when Schwarzenegger finally grabs a machine gun, the viewer feels momentary awe. Within the simplest possible staging, the filmmakers insert a closeup of his deadened gaze. It’s an old trick, equal parts Man With No Name and Dick Tracy, and, in the instant, timeless. R. JAY HORTON. Eastport, Clackamas.
Forbidden Voices
B- [ONE NIGHT ONLY] “The freedom
computer chess assembled that the result is just frustrating and dumb. The titular character, played by Michael Fassbender, is an unnamed lawyer who has gotten himself into a mess involving a martini-guzzling client (Javier Bardem, his hair looking like he stuck his finger in an electric socket) and a cowboy hatwearing middleman (Brad Pitt). As it becomes obvious things will unravel for Fassbender, Pitt turns to him: “Counselor, I don’t know what you should do, but it’s out of your hands,” he says. The film, likewise, spirals out of Scott’s hands, lurching between disconnected vignettes and gruesome acts of violence. R. REBECCA JACOBSON. Forest, Living Room Theaters.
Don Jon
A- Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s debut as
a triple threat—writer, director and star, a la Clint Eastwood—is appropriately festooned with the time-honored totems of macho masculinity. We’ve got cartoonish muscles, unbridled rage, some good old-fashioned misogyny and, of course, sex that’s all about the man. “Condoms are just terrible,” whines Jon (Gordon-Levitt), a Guido beefcake who likes porn better than real sex. “But you gotta wear one because, unlike porn, real pussy will kill you.” Or rather, real pussy—with all its trappings of commitment—will kill your bachelor lifestyle. Jon is too immersed in porn to have time for that. When he meets super-fox Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) and actually tries to date her, her abject horror at his obsessive meat-pounding kicks off the slow unraveling of his belief in porn as the apex of sexual stimulation. GordonLevitt brings just enough depth to the character, and to the film overall, to turn a schlocky premise into an honest and approachable exploration of how porn—and really, any other addictive simulation of reality—can cheat us out of the richness of actual experiences. R. EMILY JENSEN. Living Room Theaters.
Ender’s Game
B- There’s no denying that Orson
Scott Card’s political and anti-gay views are worse than cockeyed. Still, Gavin Hood’s adaptation of Card’s 1985 sci-fi novel deserves notice: It
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makes clear how salient and eerily prescient the author used to be, back before he was equating Obama with Hitler. Much in the same vein as The Hunger Games—and, of course, The Lord of the Flies long before it— Ender’s Game taps into the brutality and ruthlessness of which children are capable. In this speculative future, Earth is at war with the Formics, an alien insectoid race, and children have become the military’s best shot at victory. The fact that the complex computer games and zero-gravity exercises (realized through some impressively understated CGI) leave the kids increasingly desensitized doesn’t seem to cost their commanding officers (Harrison Ford and Viola Davis) any sleep. Ford’s Colonel Graff uncovers a potentially sociopathic Skywalker to wage an all-too-familiar “war to prevent all future wars” in loner Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield). Continuing to display a remarkable aptitude for portraying isolated characters, the otherworldly Butterfield is just as compelling here as he was in Hugo. Hood keeps a firm handle on the film’s somber tone, ensuring we’re never once at ease with the sadistic environment. But while there’s no shortage of tension, there is a lack of dramatic escalation, and Ender’s Game doesn’t naturally build to its epic climax so much as it smash-cuts to it. To its credit, though, the film never flinches as it poses the harrowing question: What if an outsider finally finds his calling only to discover that it’s genocide? PG-13. CURTIS WOLOSCHUK. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, CineMagic, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Lloyd Center, Sandy, St. Johns Twin.
Enough Said
A- In Nicole Holofcener’s Enough
Said, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ new best friend (Catherine Keener) turns out to be the embittered ex-wife of her new lover (James Gandolfini). The film is a rare thing: a portrait of middleaged romance that feels genuine in its baby steps and lurches, the hesitations of people out of practice. In his final role, Gandolfini shows a tenderness and good-natured humor that imbues the film with an extra layer of pathos: that we will not know him this way
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
of speech and pluralism taken for granted in other countries can’t even be imagined here,” says Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez. Those words crystallize the depressing truth documentarian Barbara Miller brings into sharp relief in Forbidden Voices, which interweaves the stories of three women who suffer terrible persecution for their online activism. Miller’s primary heroine is Sánchez as she fights for social and political reform and the release of dozens of political prisoners in Cuba. Meanwhile, Iranian blogger Farnaz Seifi recalls the threats of violence that led to her exile from her homeland, and we learn the story of Zeng Jinyan, a Chinese human rights activist living under house arrest. “I’d hoped for a happy childhood for my daughter in a society full of humanity, but that seems to remain a mere dream,” says Zeng, worried she may remain under house arrest forever. These women’s stories illuminate what it means to have actual skin in the game of online activism— the tragic and infuriating reality of life without the basic liberties most Americans take for granted. Though the individual narratives never fully cohere, Miller shows that the business of defeating repressive regimes requires much more commitment than a few mouse clicks. ETHAN ROCKE. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. 7 pm Thursday, Nov. 7.
Getting to Know You(Tube)
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] A guided tour through the depths of YouTube. ZOMG! BABY ANIMALS!. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Monday, Nov. 11.
Gravity
A- With Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón and
his screenwriter son, Jonas, take on the most primal fear possible, that of being lost in an abyss of nothingness. The film features only two actors, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Their simple space-station repair mission turns into a nightmare as debris from a destroyed satellite tears their shuttle to shreds and they’re left hopelessly adrift with a dwindling supply of oxygen. It is perhaps the most stressful experience to be had in a movie theater this year, and as such it’s nearly perfect. PG-13. AP KRYZA. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Lloyd Center, Sandy.
How I Live Now
B- Isn’t the apocalypse over by
now? It was so last year. But Britain is perhaps a little behind, and so we have the World War III tale How I Live Now, starring the talented Irish-NYC actress Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, The Lovely Bones). Ronan plays a petulant American girl who first learns to love from an English hill-boy who can talk to animals, then how to live when the world almost ends as a result of disconcertingly vague terrorist attacks. The film is hurried and tonally confused through most of its first half; the second act’s post-apocalyptic survival show, however, is arrestingly elegiac, a slow and meandering voyage whose only purpose seems to be the discovery of what’s gone lost. The film’s gauzy, shell-shocked mood means that consequences don’t really register even when children are shot in the head—which happens often enough. Ronan’s sadly trudging waif is our only real focus, and so we float in the same post-concussive haze that she does. It is a pleasant drift: a feeling of fuzzy importance combined with a certain lack of oxygen, like doing nitrous when you’re 13 years old. R. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Living Room Theaters.
I Am Divine
[ONE WEEK ONLY] A documentary about the drag queen Divine, who starred in early John Waters films, famously eating dog feces in Pink Flamingos. Clinton Street Theater.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
B+ Entering theaters 11 years to the day after the first Jackass release deliriously exceeded all expectations, Bad Grandpa has become the franchise’s fourth consecutive film to debut with top grosses, and nobody seems the least surprised that an ambling road movie with few stunts and relatively unknown leads bested Brad Pitt and George Clooney. As this narrative begins, Johnny Knoxville’s newly widowed, 86-year-old Irving Zisman is driving his grandson across the country to be dropped with his deadbeat dad. The farther they travel across America, the further Knoxville and talented child actor Jackson Nicoll press their man-on-the-street badinage toward creepiness. Nicoll’s unilateral decision to be adopted by friendly strangers probably wrings the most laughs, but Knoxville’s addled ferocity attains more intriguing dimensions. Throughout his travels, save for a bravura standoff with one loudmouth braggart, Knoxville accepts defeat in a bittersweet manner. Older but no wiser, and still obsessed with seizing the easy laugh with lunatic aplomb, Bad Grandpa isn’t quite art, and it’s not quite growing old gracefully. This, though, you may want to try at home. R. JAY HORTON. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Lloyd Center, Sandy.
Last Vegas
C- One can easily imagine the pitch that led to Last Vegas: “It’s The Hangover for the retired set!” John Turtletaub’s film thrusts four 60-something besties (Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline) into Sin City for a bachelor party/last hurrah in hopes hilarity will ensue. If that premise sounds familiar, so are the ensuing shenanigans: fanny packs, bikini contests, Viagra jokes, unearned nostalgia and shopworn musings on aging. Though intermitJ AY M A I D M E N T
MOVIES
Free Birds
B While we wouldn’t quite call Free Birds a good idea, there are so many children’s pics waiting to collide at the Christmas line of scrimmage that any cartoon set during November (even a mismatched pair of turkeys traveling through time to steer the first Thanksgiving away from poultry) seems, well, smart business. Helmed by Horton Hears a Who! vet Jimmy Hayward and voiced by an enviable troupe of A-listers, the resulting feature arrives with sweeping inoffensiveness and large personalities. Woody Harrelson’s grizzled self-satire as a Turkey Liberation Front radical might actually comfort both sides of the vegan divide. If the film changes any Thanksgiving menus, credit less the mixed moral lesson than the impossibly unappetizing depictions: These turkeys resemble golf-club cozies in pastel-colored suede jackets. For a production so strictly manufactured, there’s an addled comedic sensibility given blessedly free range. Neither kids nor parents will be happy, exactly, but that’s not the point of Thanksgiving. We gather together, ignore the dry white meat, and load up on the stuffing. PG. JAY HORTON. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Conrelius, Oak Grove, Sandy.
thor: the dark world
NOV. 6-12
Lenny Cooke
[ONE NIGHT ONLY, DIRECTORS ATTENDING] Benny and Joshua Safdie directed a documentary about basketball player Lenny Cooke, who could have been the next LeBron James but instead became a forgotten footnote. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. 7 pm Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Let the Fire Burn
A documentary from Jason Osder about the 1985 raid against the black liberation group MOVE, in which a bomb dropped by Philadelphia police killed several people and wrecked dozens of homes. Living Room Theaters.
Linsanity
[ONE WEEK ONLY] A scrapbookstyle documentary about Jeremy Lin, the Harvard graduate who became an NBA sensation. PG. Cinema 21.
Terms and Conditions May Apply
A What follows are the terms and conditions of watching Terms and Conditions May Apply (“Terms and Conditions”), a documentary directed by former Portlander Cullen Hoback (“Hoback”). By entering into the cinema, you, the audience member, agree to: 1. Accept former employees of Google and Facebook, alongside experts such as MIT social scientist Sherry Turkle, as witnesses in Terms and Conditions’ simmering indictment against the companies and governments that exploit our personal data every time we click “I Agree.” 2. Follow without question the even-keeled narrative of the film, clearly organized into tongue-incheek subheadings like “Government Requests” and “For Legal Reasons.” 3. Sit calmly and nonjudgmentally during potentially fearmongering segments, as when interviewees are asked if privacy is dead, and during sequences that could induce laughter, as when a possibly stoned, unofficial representative for hacktivist group Anonymous stares into space. 4. Draw all the obvious conclusions, without reserve, from FBI chief Robert S. Mueller stammering in a Senate hearing on data-mining procedures. 5. Feel equally terrified, educated and empowered by the welldigested facts Hoback lays on the table, i.e. that the government is collecting and saving all our phone and Internet use and may use it against us at any time. MITCH LILLIE. Cinema 21.
Thor: The Dark World
C Thor is Marvel’s most unidentifi-
able character, but his first solo cinematic outing worked because of how hilariously batshit it was. 2011’s Thor was part goofball sci-fi epic, part fish-out-of-water comedy set in small-town New Mexico, anchored by Chris Hemsworth’s charmingly boyish performance. Thor: The Dark World is the God of Thunder’s first post-Avengers romp, and it reverses the formula, transporting Thor’s scientist girlfriend (Natalie Portman) to his psychedelic space kingdom. It shows us a world of rainbow
Wadjda
A Circumstances alone make
Wadjda a remarkable film. It’s the first feature shot exclusively in Saudi Arabia, a country where cinemas have been banned since the mid’80s. Its director is a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour, who often had to direct shots via walkie-talkie from inside a van, because she couldn’t be seen working alongside men. It’s already been submitted as the country’s first-ever entry for the Academy Awards. Yet these facts are not what ultimately make the film extraordinary. It’s that, on the most basic level, Wadjda is a wonderful piece of filmmaking. The story itself breaks no new ground: A 10-year-old girl named Wadjda dreams of owning
a bike, never mind that it’s considered scandalous and dishonorable for a girl to ride one. In some ways, Wadjda is a slice-of-life picture, but it’s not some mere cultural curiosity. By the same token, it’s more than an issue drama, thanks to Al-Mansour’s subversive yet never strident storytelling. At one point, one of Wadjda’s most dutiful classmates is scolded for showing off pictures of her recent wedding to a 20-yearold man: Photos are not allowed in school. Heartbreaking yet hopeful, Wadjda may not reinvent the wheel. But it pedals astoundingly well. PG. REBECCA JACOBSON. Cinema 21.
Waypoints
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] A free screening of a new travelogue-style movie about fly-fishing around the world. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Friday, Nov. 8.
We Began by Measuring Distance: A Selection of Works Made in and Around Palestine by Basma Alsharif and CAMP
[TWO NIGHTS ONLY] Cinema Project presents two different programs of work by Basma Alsharif, a filmmaker who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents and now produces nonlinear narratives about geopolitical shifts and collective memory. Ampersand Gallery & Fine Books, 2916 NE Alberta St. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Nov. 8-9.
SCOOP
A Perfect Man
On deadline, WW learned that this is not actually a remake of the movie starring Hilary Duff as a matchmaker for her bombshell mom, but rather something with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Liev Schreiber as a wealthy couple in Amsterdam. Kennedy School.
roads, elves with bazookas and giant rock monsters…only to make us long to be back in New Mexico. There’s some nonsense about dark elves and a forced teaming up with Thor’s a-hole brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston, great as always), but director Alan Taylor sucks all the fun out of the picture, creating a cornball drama that plays a lot like one of his episodes of Game of Thrones, minus the incest but with spaceships. The film finds some footing in its gonzo finale, in which London is laid to waste, Thor takes the subway and the comedic elements are suddenly resurrected. But even destroying a city can’t make up for the self-serious dullness that came before. It’s as if the film is at once trying too hard and holding back. It’s about as interesting as, well, a bag of hammers. And not the cosmic kind. PG-13. AP KRYZA. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Moreland, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, City Center, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Sandy, St. Johns Twin.
Women’s Edge Film Series: Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders
[ONE NIGHT ONLY, REVIVAL] Laura J. Lipson’s 2002 documentary centers on the African-American women who helped lead the civil rights movement in Mississippi in the ’50s and ’60s. Clinton Street Theater. 7 pm Tuesday, Nov. 12.
PG. 22
REVIEW COURTESY OF POLSKY FILMS
tently funny and not entirely without their charms, Turteltaub’s halfhearted attempts to create a new Rat Pack mostly fall flat. The film’s thoughts on friendship and mortality are as hackneyed as the jokes about boners, transvestites and 50 Cent. PG-13. MICHAEL NORDINE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Clackamas, Mill Plain, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Lloyd Center, Sandy.
MOVIES
BROTHERLY LOVE: While it might be true that even losers get lucky sometimes, such good fortune tends to be fleeting. That’s certainly the case with brothers Frank (Emile Hirsch) and Jerry Lee (Stephen Dorff ), whose adolescent foray into rail-riding resulted in the latter losing a leg. Having since grown into full-blown fuckups, they hole up in Reno’s squalid motels, where dreams don’t so much die as fester. Fittingly, it takes a tragic bit of bad luck—a hitand-run by Jerry Lee—to flush them from hiding and force them to confront their pasts. Real-life brothers Alan and Gabe Polsky’s adaptation of The Motel Life, a novel by Reno-born Portlander Willy Vlautin (who will attend the Nov. 9 screening and plans to hang around for drinks afterward), navigates an appealing range of visual techniques. Frank’s lurid fantasies, which a therapist would have a field day parsing, are depicted with debauched zeal by local animator Mike Smith, and one audacious tracking shot clearly shows Martin Scorsese’s influence. However, it’s the more stripped-down scenes that resonate strongest, including Frank’s realization that he’s not so much a legendary outlaw as fodder for a sad-ass country song. The Motel Life fulfills its modest ambitions, mining glimmers of muted beauty from these brothers’ otherwise bleak existences. CURTIS WOLOSCHUK. B- SEE IT: The Motel Life is rated R. It opens Friday at the Hollywood Theatre.
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
49
AP FILM STUDIES
COURTESY OF CENTRIPEDAL FILMS
MOVIES
GOING NATIVE THE NORTHWEST FILMMAKERS’ FESTIVAL AND THE LOCAL-MOVIE DILEMMA. BY A P KRYZA
PG. 23 HEADOUT
50
Willamette Week NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
apkryza@wweek.com
Quick! Name a director from the Pacific Northwest. You know you’re going to say Gus Van Sant. Even if you hate My Own Private Idaho (hell, I kinda do), his is too often the only name that comes to mind. That sucks. Portland is obsessed with homegrown products. We won’t eat honey that didn’t come from our ’hoods. We’ll shun a SoCal band because we can’t hear them practicing as we walk through our neighborhoods. We’ll snub a Boston brew because it wasn’t made with Cascade hops. But when it comes to fi lms, people approach w ith caution. Can you blame them? W ho hasn’t been duped by an arty friend into sitting through a documentary about urban goats? Or a drama about a down-on-his-luck poet whining about the girl who got away? Amateur film can be boring. It can be masturbatory. It can be like pouring rubbing alcohol into your eyes. But all the greats have to start somewhere, and for the past 40 years, names-to-watch have made their debut at the NW Film Center’s Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival, which begins its nine-day run Friday. This year’s roster is full of unfamiliar names. But skim a list of past contributors and you’ll see then-unknowns who became powerhouses, including Van Sant, Alien Boy director Brian Lindstrom, documentary master Ivy Lin, animators Bill Plympton and Will Vinton, and “Twisted Twins” Jen and Sylvia Soska, whose Dead Hooker in a Trunk led to 2012’s cult horror hit American Mary. “People think because it’s a regional festival, the work isn’t going to be world-class,” says festival director Thomas Phillipson. But here’s the thing: The Northwest Filmmakers’ Fest is like every other film fest. There are great entries this year, including Eden, a thriller about sex trafficking inspired by true events (7 pm Sunday, Nov. 10). There’s Barzan, a documentary offering a first-person account of post-9/11 xenophobia (2 pm Sunday, Nov. 10), and All the Labor, which does the unthinkable of humanizing a hippie jam band (8:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 16). And, of course, there are duds. Take Neurons
MODERN-DAY SLAVE: Jamie Chung in Eden.
to Nirvana: Understanding Psychedelic Medicine (7 pm Thursday, Nov. 14), a documentary so over-stylized it looks like Michael Bay handled the post-production. Or Hawaiian Punch (8:30 pm Monday, Nov. 11), which features a lot of staring and pensive gazing and makes mumblecore seem like Lethal Weapon. But approach it as you would any fest, carefully selecting the pictures that appeal to you, and who knows: There might be a future Van Sant out there, some unknown who will become an indie darling and then, inexplicably, remake Shadow of a Doubt. Plus, in a town that beats its chest supporting local art, it’d be refreshing to extend your local film experience beyond DVR’ing Grimm. Multiple venues. Nov. 8-16. See nwfilm.org for a full schedule. ALSO SHOWING: Nowadays, Emilio Estevez is about as punk as oatmeal. Back in 1984, though, he was punk as fuck in Alex Cox’s Repo Man, which starts with car theft and UFOs and only gets weirder. Academy. Nov. 8-14. Is Citizen Kane the greatest movie ever made? Nope. Point Break is. But what Orson Welles’ film lacks in bank robberies, buddy cops, skydiving and rampant homoeroticism it makes up for in being a timeless study of the nightmare lurking in the American dream. Laurelhurst. Nov. 8-14. Five Easy Pieces doesn’t just feature Jack Nicholson’s brilliant performance as a confused young trust-funder. It also includes the greatest instructional speech on ordering toast ever. Fifth Avenue Cinema. 7 and 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday and 3 pm Sunday, Nov 8-10. What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever seen? Does it involve space warriors and a cosmic Jesus trying to possess a little girl and a hawk? Does it star Lance Henriksen, John Huston, Sam Peckinpah and Shelly Winters? Didn’t think so. You must see The Visitor to believe it even exists. Hollywood Theatre. Friday-Saturday, Nov 8-9. Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train introduced the murder-swap plot that was essential to Throw Momma From the Train and every other episode of Dateline. Six decades later, it remains unnerving. Hollywood Theatre, 2 pm Saturday-Sunday, Nov 9-10. Like Kramer vs. Kramer, but with more arm rasslin’ and less courtroom drama, Sylvester Stallone’s truck-drivin’ opus Over the Top deserves its place at Hecklevision. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Saturday, Nov 9. The Kung Fu Theater series remains the Hollywood’s rowdiest event, and this month features the Sammo Hung-starring classic The Prodigal Son. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Tuesday, Nov 11.
MOVIES
NOV. 8-14
COURTESY OF EDGE CITY
09:30 LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 02:00, 06:55 ELYSIUM Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 02:10, 06:40, 09:00 PLANES Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 04:30 PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 02:40, 04:55 REPO MAN Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 04:45, 09:40
Living Room Theaters
Regal Lloyd Center 10 & IMAX
1510 NE Multnomah St., 800326-3264 THOR: THE DARK WORLD -- AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 03:25, 09:30 ENDER’S GAME: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:25, 06:35 THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:00, 01:25, 02:55, 06:00, 07:30, 09:00 THOR: THE DARK WORLD 3D FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:45, 03:55, 04:25, 07:00, 10:00, 10:30 12 YEARS A SLAVE Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:05, 03:15, 06:30, 09:50 ENDER’S GAME Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:55, 03:45, 07:10, 10:05 GRAVITY 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:30, 03:35, 05:15, 07:40, 10:10 GRAVITY Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 02:50 LAST VEGAS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 01:15, 04:35, 07:20, 10:15 JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:15, 02:45, 05:20, 07:50, 10:25 CARRIE Fri-SunMon-Tue-Wed 01:05 THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: TOSCA Sat 09:55 THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: TOSCA - ENCORE Wed 06:30
Regal Lloyd Mall 8
2320 Lloyd Center Mall, 800-326-3264 THOR: THE DARK WORLD 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 02:40, 08:15 THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:50, 05:25
Clinton Street Theater
2522 SE Clinton St., 503-238-8899 I AM DIVINE Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 07:00 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Sat 12:00 CARMEN Sun 01:00 FILMMAKERS MAGAZINE’S ``25 NEW FACES OF INDEPENDENT FILM’’ Mon 07:00 STANDING ON MY SISTERS’ SHOULDERS Tue 07:00 THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD
Laurelhurst Theatre & Pub
2735 E Burnside St., 503-232-5511 THE SPECTACULAR NOW Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 09:10 LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 06:30 THE WAY, WAY BACK Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 06:45 ELYSIUM Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:00 CITIZEN KANE Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed
07:15 THE WORLD’S END Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:45 RIDDICK Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:30 WE’RE THE MILLERS FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 07:00 PACIFIC RIM SatSun 01:10
Mission Theater and Pub
1624 NW Glisan St., 503-249-7474-5 MORTIFIED PORTLAND! Fri 08:00 MIZ. KITTY’S PARLOUR Sat 07:00
Moreland Theatre
6712 SE Milwaukie Ave., 503236-5257 THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 05:30, 08:00
St. Johns Twin Cinemas and Pub
8704 N Lombard St., 503-286-1768 THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 05:00, 07:30, 09:55 ENDER’S GAME Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 05:45, 08:20
CineMagic Theatre
2021 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-231-7919 ENDER’S GAME Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 05:30, 08:00
Century 16 Eastport Plaza
4040 SE 82nd Ave., 800-326-3264-952 DESPICABLE ME 2 FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:55, 04:25, 06:55, 09:40 ESCAPE PLAN Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 01:50, 04:45, 07:35, 10:25 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:00, 04:55, 09:45 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 02:25, 07:20 GRAVITY Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 01:35, 09:00 GRAVITY 3D Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:05, 02:45, 04:00, 05:10, 06:35, 07:40, 10:05 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:20, 03:50, 07:05, 10:10 CARRIE Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 02:05, 04:35, 07:15, 09:55 JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:35, 01:45, 03:00, 04:15, 05:25, 06:45, 08:00, 09:15, 10:30 ENDER’S GAME Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:25, 01:50, 03:15, 04:40, 06:05, 07:25, 08:55, 10:20 LAST VEGAS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 01:55, 04:30, 07:10, 10:00 FREE BIRDS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:15, 05:15, 07:45 FREE BIRDS 3D Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 02:45, 10:15
THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:30, 03:30, 06:30, 09:30 THOR: THE DARK WORLD 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 01:30, 02:30, 04:30, 05:30, 07:30, 08:30, 10:30
Kennedy School Theater
5736 NE 33rd Ave., 503-249-7474-4 ELYSIUM Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon 02:30 PLANES Fri-SatSun-Mon-Wed 05:30 A PERFECT MAN Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 02:30, 07:30 THE WORLD’S END Fri-SatSun-Mon-Wed 09:30
Fifth Avenue Cinemas
510 SW Hall St., 503-725-3551 FIVE EASY PIECES Fri-SatSun 03:00
Hollywood Theatre
4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-281-4215 THE MOTEL LIFE Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 07:15, 09:15 ENOUGH SAID FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 06:45, 09:00 THE VISITOR Fri-Sat 09:30 STRANGERS ON A TRAIN Sat-Sun 02:00 OVER THE TOP IN HECKLEVISION Sat 07:30 WALKING THE CAMINO: SIX WAYS TO SANTIAGO Sun 07:30 POSSESSION Sun-Mon 09:30 GETTING TO KNOW YOUTUBE Mon 07:30 THE PRODIGAL SON Tue 07:30 FOOL FOR LOVE Wed 07:00
NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium
1219 SW Park Ave., 503-221-1156 NW FEST: SHORTS Fri-Sun 08:45 NW FEST: SHORTS II Sat 07:00 BARZAN Sun 02:00 BACKBONE: EARLY VANCOUVER EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA 1967-1981 Sun 04:00 NW FEST: SHORTS III Sun 07:00 EDEN Sun 07:00
Regal Pioneer Place Stadium 6 340 SW Morrison St., 800-326-3264 THOR: THE DARK WORLD 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 01:30, 04:30, 07:30, 10:30 THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 01:00, 04:00, 07:00, 10:00
St. Johns Theatre
8203 N Ivanhoe St., 503-249-7474-6 THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES Fri-Sat-Sun-TueWed 06:30 ELYSIUM Fri-Tue-Wed 01:00, 09:00 THE WALKING DEAD Sun 06:00, 09:00 MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Mon 05:40
Academy Theater
7818 SE Stark St., 503-252-0500 THE WORLD’S END Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 07:10,
Century Clackamas Town Center and XD
12000 SE 82nd Ave., 800-326-3264-996 ESCAPE PLAN Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 10:40 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:25, 04:30, 09:35 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 3D FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 02:00, 07:05 GRAVITY Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:10, 09:20 GRAVITY 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:30, 01:40, 03:00, 04:15, 05:30, 06:45, 08:00, 10:25 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:05, 04:15, 07:25, 10:30 ABOUT TIME Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 10:50, 01:45, 04:40, 07:35, 10:35 CARRIE Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 11:20 ALL IS LOST Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 11:20, 02:05, 04:50, 07:30, 10:10 JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:05, 12:30, 01:35, 02:55, 04:05, 05:25, 07:55, 10:25 ENDER’S GAME Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 10:55, 11:55, 01:00, 01:50, 02:50, 03:55, 04:45, 05:50, 07:00, 07:40, 08:50, 09:55, 10:30 12 YEARS A SLAVE Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:05, 04:10, 07:15, 10:20 LAST VEGAS Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 11:15, 01:55, 04:35, 07:20, 10:00 FREE BIRDS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 11:00, 01:30, 04:00, 06:30, 09:00 FREE BIRDS 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 12:25, 02:55, 05:20, 07:45, 10:15 THOR: THE DARK WORLD Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:30, 01:15, 04:10, 07:10, 08:30, 10:05 THOR: THE DARK WORLD 3D Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:15, 02:30, 03:15, 05:30, 06:15, 09:15 THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: TOSCA Sat 09:55 RISKY BUSINESS SunWed 02:00, 07:00 THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: TOSCA - ENCORE Wed 06:30
STREET
PG. 21
YOU WANT SOME HELP WITH THAT BEER, KID?: Repo Man plays Nov. 8-14 at the Academy.
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Devoted, nurturing, loving gay couple looking to adopt first baby into a family offering education, fun, travel, laughter, and unconditional love and support. Call, TEXT, or email anytime about Kyle & Adrian; 971-238-9651 or kyleandadrianfamily@gmail.com or visit kyleandadrianadoption.com
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Week of November 7
JOBS CAREER TRAINING
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I’m not a big fan of fear. It gets far more attention than it deserves. The media and entertainment industries practically worship it, and many of us allow ourselves to be riddled with toxic amounts of the stuff. Having said that, though, I do want to put in a good word for fear. Now and then, it keeps us from doing stupid things. It prods us to be wiser and act with more integrity. It forces us to see the truth when we might prefer to wallow in delusion. Now is one of those times for you, Aries. Thank your fear for helping to wake you up. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Poetry might be defined as the clear expression of mixed feelings,” wrote W.H. Auden. If that’s true, then your job is to be a poet right now. You seem to be awash in a hubbub of paradoxical inclinations, complete with conflicting desires and mismatched truths. There’s no shame or blame in that. But you do have a responsibility to communicate your complexity with honesty and precision. If you can manage that, people will treat you with affection and give you extra slack. They might even thank you. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What can you do to improve your flow? Are there obstructions in your environment that keep you from having a more fluidic rhythm? Do you harbor negative beliefs that make it harder for life to bestow its natural blessings on you? Now is the time to take care of glitches like these, Gemini. You have more power than usual to eliminate constrictions and dissolve fixations. Your intuition will be strong when you use it to drum up graceful luck for your personal use. Be aggressive. Be bold. Be lyrical. It’s high time for you to slip into a smooth groove. CANCER (June 21-July 22): In the beginning of his novel The White Castle, Orhan Pamuk offers this meditation: “To imagine that a person who intrigues us has access to a way of life unknown and all the more attractive for its mystery, to believe that we will begin to live only through the love of that person—what else is this but the birth of great passion?” How do you respond to this provocative statement, Cancerian? Here are my thoughts: On the one hand, maybe it’s not healthy for you to fantasize that a special someone can give you what you can’t give yourself. On the other hand, believing this is true may inspire you to take an intriguing risk that would catalyze invigorating transformations. Which is it? Now is a good time to ruminate on these matters. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Canadians Tommy Larkin and Stephen Goosney are biological brothers, but they were adopted by different families when they were young. They lost touch for almost 30 years. Once they began looking for each other, it didn’t take long to be reunited. Nor did they have to travel far to celebrate. It turns out that they were living across the street from each other in the same small town in Newfoundland. I foresee a metaphorically similar experience in your future, Leo. When you get reconnected to your past, you will find that it has been closer than you realized. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): This will be an excellent week for you to talk with yourself -- or rather, with yourselves. I’m envisioning in-depth conversations between your inner saint and your inner evil twin . . . between the hard worker and the lover of creature comforts . . . between the eager-to-please servant of the greater good and the self-sufficient smartie who’s dedicated to personal success. I think that in at least some of these confabs, you should speak every word out loud. You should gesture with your hands and express colorful body language. It’s prime time for your different sub-personalities to get to know each other better. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the coming week you will probably have more luck than usual if you play keno, craps, blackjack, bingo, or roulette. People who owe you money will be inclined to pay you back, so you might want to give them a nudge. I won’t be surprised if you find a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk or if a store cashier accidentally gives you way too much change. In the wake of these tendencies, your main assignment is to be alert for opportunities to increase your cash flow. For example, if you wake up in the middle
of the night with an idea for boosting your financial fortunes, I hope you will have a pen and notebook by the bed to write it down. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Not for all the whiskey in heaven,” begins a poem by Charles Bernstein. “Not for all the flies in Vermont. Not for all the tears in the basement. Not for a million trips to Mars. Not for all the fire in hell. Not for all the blue in the sky.” Can you guess what he’s driving at? Those are the things he will gladly do without in order to serve his passion. “No, never, I’ll never stop loving you,” he concludes. According to my understanding of your astrological cycle, Scorpio, now is a good time for you to make a comparable pledge. What is the one passion you promise to devote yourself to above all others? And what are you willing to live without in order to focus on that passion? Be extravagant, pure, wild, and explicit. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Dmitri Razumikhin is a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. His surname is derived from the Russian word for “reason.” At one point he makes a drunken speech that includes these observations: “It’s by talking nonsense that one gets to the truth! Not one single truth has ever been arrived at without people first having talked a dozen reams of nonsense, even ten dozen reams of it.” Let’s make this a centerpiece of your current strategy, Sagittarius. Just assume that in order to ferret out the core insights that will fuel your next transformations, you may need to speak and hear a lot of babble. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): At the 2013 Grammy Awards, actor Neil Patrick Harris introduced the band Fun this way: “As legendary gangster rap icon Katharine Hepburn once said, if you follow all the rules, you miss all the fun.” Everything about that vignette is a template for the approach you can use now with great success. You should gravitate toward festive events and convivial gatherings. Whenever possible, you should sponsor, activate, and pave the way for fun. Toward that end, it’s totally permissible for you to tell amusing stories that aren’t exactly factual and that bend the rules not quite to the breaking point. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Some spiritual traditions regard the ego as a bad thing. They imply it’s the source of suffering -- a chronically infected pustule that must be regularly lanced and drained. I understand this argument. The ego has probably been the single most destructive force in the history of civilization. But I also think it’s our sacred duty to redeem and rehabilitate it. After all, we often need our egos in order to get important things done. Our egos give us the confidence to push through difficulties. They motivate us to work hard to achieve our dreams. Your assignment, Aquarius, is to beautify your ego as you strengthen it. Build your self-esteem without stirring up arrogance. Love yourself brilliantly, not neurotically. Express your talents in ways that stimulate others to express their talents. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Dr. Seuss wrote his children’s books in English, but he liked to stretch the limits of his native tongue. “You’ll be surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond ‘Z’ and start poking around,” he said. One of the extra letters he found out there was “yuzz,” which he used to spell the made-up word “yuzz-a-ma-tuzz.” I recommend that you take after Seuss -- not only in the way you speak, but also in the ways you work, play, love, dream, and seek adventure. It’s time to explore the territory beyond your comfort zone.
Homework Homework: Make two fresh promises to yourself: one that’s easy to keep and one that’s at the edge of your capacity to live up to.
check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes & Daily Text Message Horoscopes
freewillastrology.com
OLCC’S NEWEST ONLINE SERVER PERMIT CLASS
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EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
MUSICIANS MARKET FOR FREE ADS in 'Musicians Wanted,' 'Musicians Available' & 'Instruments for Sale' go to portland.backpage.com and submit ads online. Ads taken over the phone in these categories cost $5.
INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE TRADEUPMUSIC.COM
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MUSIC LESSONS
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RENTALS ROOMMATE SERVICES ALL AREAS - ROOMMATES.COM. Browse hundreds of online listings with photos and maps. Find your roommate with a click of the mouse! Visit: www.Roommates.com. (AAN CAN)
Indian Music Classes with Josh Feinberg
Specializing in sitar, but serving all instruments and levels! 917-776-2801 www.joshfeinbergmusic.com
Learn Piano All styles, levels
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MCMENAMINS GRAND LODGE RUBY SPA
is now hiring LMTs! Qualified apps must have an open & flex sched including, days, eves, wknds and holidays. We are looking for applicants who have prev exp related exp and enjoy working in a busy customer service-oriented enviro. We are also willing to train! We offer opps for advancement and excellent benefits for eligible employees, including vision, med, chiro, dental and so much more! Please apply online 24/7 at www.mcmenamins. com or pick up a paper app at any McMenamins location. Mail to 430 N. Killingsworth, Portland OR, 97217 or fax: 503-221-8749. Call 503-952-0598 for info on other ways to apply. Please no phone calls or emails to individ locs! E.O.E.
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VOICE INSTRUCTION Anthony Plumer, Concert Artist/Voice Teacher. www.naturalvocalarts.com 503-299-4089.
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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Stars Cabaret in TUALATINHiring (Tualatin-TigardLake Oswego)
Stars Cabaret in TUALATIN is now accepting applications for Servers, Bartenders, Hostess, Valet. Part and Full-time positions available. Experience preferred but not required. Earn top pay + tips in a fast-paced and positive environment. Stars Cabaret is also conducting ENTERTAINERS auditions and schedule additions Mon-Sun 11am-10pm. ENTERTAINERS: Training provided to those new to the business. Located @ 17937 SW McEwan Rd. in Tualatin...across from “24 Hours Fitness” Please apply at location.
Lolita
Senorita Lolita is here and ready for a fiesta!! I am a gorgeous girl with a spicy personality, a diva who is bound to keep you on your toes. Don’t worry, my sassy spirit will keep you laughing too as I am a humorous and lovable gal! I am 3 years old and ready to light up a home with my fabulous personality. I do well with other animals (keep in mind I am a bit of a queen bee) and people of all sorts. I use my litter box and keep myself clean and tidy like a lady should. I am fixed, vaccinated and microchipped. My adoption fee is $100. Stop by the Pixie Project cattery and visit me today!
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at
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JONESIN’ by Matt Jones
I’m a Little Bit Country–and a little bit rap. 45 “I Will Follow ___” (1963 #1 hit) 46 Elliott of “Get Ur Freak On” 48 “___ blimey!” 49 Jessica of “7th Heaven” 51 Weed-attacking tool 53 Rap/country collaboration with a Dirty South version of “Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy”? 57 “Perry Mason” star Raymond 58 Changed the decor of 59 Give this for that 60 Brand owned by Kellogg’s 61 Dementieva of tennis 62 Giga- times 1000 63 Come to judge 64 “Law & Order: SVU” actor B. D. ___ 65 Like professors emeritus: Abbr.
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Across 1 Pipe type 4 1901, in Roman numerals 8 Seattle forecast, often 12 Famed infielder, to fans 14 Eagle claw 15 With the bow, to a cellist 16 Architect Ludwig Mies van der ___ 17 1990s candidate ___ Perot 18 Feline remark
Portland’s Indie Rock Strip Club
HOTTEST GIRLS IN CHINATOWN 217 NW 4th Ave • (503) 224-8472 www.magicgardenportland.com 54
Week Classifieds NOVEMBER 6, 2013 wweek.com
19 Rap/country collaboration with the album “Defying Gravity with Dr. Octagon”? 22 Grand ___ (sporty Pontiacs) 23 Cries at moments of clarity 24 London lavatory 25 Big name in hummus 27 “M*A*S*H” extras 28 Burger holder 31 Rap/country
collaboration with an extremely crunk version of “Ring of Fire”? 35 World Series unit 37 “Boyz N the Hood” actress Long 38 Adam and Eve’s second son 39 Rap/country collaboration with the hit “Konvict in Tight Fittin’ Jeans”? 44 Part of a cookware set
Down 1 Heavy coat 2 Loud noises from racing engines 3 Silvery fish around the Pacific Northwest 4 “West Side Story” role 5 Coagulates 6 Dance in a pit 7 Pharmacy supply 8 “First Blood” hero 9 For a rectangle, it’s length times width 10 Clickable symbol 11 Like, immediately 13 Actor Benicio ___ Toro 14 1984 Leon Uris novel 20 Lagerfeld of fashion 21 Like Santa’s cheeks 26 “Tres ___” 27 Attack a chew toy 28 Mom-to-be’s party 29 “___ only as directed”
30 Nashville Predators’ org. 32 Suffix after ant- or syn33 Smack 34 Musical with meowing 35 Word after age or gender 36 Rap sheet letters 40 “Hold everything!” 41 Flight staff 42 Marcos who collected shoes 43 Mah-jongg piece 47 Big song for Lionel Richie 48 Its D stands for “disc” 49 Obama’s right-hand man 50 B.B. King’s “Why ___ the Blues” 52 Person living abroad for good 53 Winter Olympics event 54 Reckless yearning 55 Change of address, to a realtor 56 “Spring ahead” letters 57 Flower garden
last week’s answers
©2013 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #JONZ648.
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Glass Pipes, Vaporizers, Incense, Candles. 10% discount for new OMA Card holders! 1425 NW 23rd, Ptld. 503-841-5751 7219 NE Hwy 99, Vanc. 360-735-5913
Sliding-Scale Nonprofit Attorneys Bankruptcy - Tenants Small Business - More (503)208-4079 www.CommunityLawProject.org
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Relfexology
Treat your feet at Hong Kong Foot Spa 8747 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale HWY suite E, Portland, 97225 Call 971-300-3836 Bring this Ad for 10% off
Full-time / Part-time / Mgmt Avialable Earn $1500 -$2300 per month • Call Taylor at 503-232-5326
Mary Jane’s House of Glass
Community Law Project
EMPLOYMENT LAWYER
Work with grassroots campaigns on behalf of the ACLU
Vancouver, WA 98665
(360) 735-5913 212 N.E. 164th #19 Vancouver, WA 98684
(360) 514-8494
1425 NW 23rd Portland, OR 97210 (503) 841-5751
6913 E. Fourth Plain Vancouver, WA 98661
Massage openings in the Mt. Tabor area. Call Jerry for info. 503-757-7295. LMT6111.
Eskrima Classes
Personal weapon & street defense www.nwfighting.com or 503-740-2666
Fun & Easy Online Family Shopping For ALL Ages! www.marchars.com
We Buy, Sell, & Trade New & Used Hydroponic Equipment. 503-747-3624
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(360) 213-1011
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(360) 695-7773 (360) 577-4204 Not valid with any other offer
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Guitar Lessons
Personalized instruction for over 15yrs. www.danielnoland.com 503-546-3137
Opiate Treatment Program
Evening outpatient treatment program with suboxone. CRCHealth/Dr. Jim Thayer, Addiction Medicine http://belmont.crchealth.com 1-800-797-6237
Improvisation Classes
Oregon Medical Marijuana Patient Resource Center
JiuJitsu
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Ground defense under black belt instruction. www.nwfighting.com or 503-740-2666
Open 7 Days www.ommpResourceCenter.com
WWEEKDOTCOM
WWEEKDOTCOM
WWEEKDOTCOM
Deekum Street Doorway A Linnton Feed & Seed Garden Store
Medical Marijuana
card Services clinic
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New Downtown Location! 1501 SW Broadway www.mellowmood.com
4119 SE Hawthorne, Portland ph: 503-235-PIPE (7473)
• Gardening tools • Chicken feed • Soil & Mulch • Plant starts • and more!
Historic Woodlawn Triangle at NE 8th & Deekum
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Oregon Wage Claim Attorneys
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ROSE CITY GUN & KNIFE SHOW
Nov. 16th & 17th Portland Expo Center Sat. 9-6, Sun 9-4. Admission $10. 503-363-9564 wesknodelgunshows.com
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