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WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY
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WWEEK.COM
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NINO ORTIZ
FINDINGS
PAGE 29
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER VOL. 43, ISSUE 32.
Giant Styrofoam coolers are not being considered as solutions to homelessness. 4
Al Unser Jr., Zorro, Mickey Mouse
and at least one rapist have been grand marshals of the Rose Festival’s Grand Floral Parade. 25
A former lawmaker who championed public health now supplements her pension by lobbying for the tobacco company once known as Philip Morris. 10
Servers at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse wear clothing bearing a tiny Jumpman logo. 29
Masked leftist protesters threw bloody tampons at Portland police ranks while chanting, “All cops are bastards!” 13
a pie and you don’t actually throw it. 44
ON THE COVER:
The first two rules of pie throwing are that it’s not actually
OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK:
Photograph by Thomas Teal.
A man screaming about First Amendment rights allegedly pummeled a MAX driver.
STAFF Editor & Publisher Mark Zusman EDITORIAL News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Martin Cizmar Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, Rachel Monahan Copy Editors Matt Buckingham, Nicole Groessel Stage Editor Shannon Gormley Screen Editor Walker MacMurdo Projects Editor Matthew Korfhage Music Editor Matthew Singer
Web Editor Sophia June Books Zach Middleton Editorial Interns Elise Herron, Jason Susim CONTRIBUTORS Dave Cantor, Nathan Carson, Pete Cottell, Peter D’Auria, Jay Horton, Maya McOmie, Jordan Michelman, Jack Rushall, Chris Stamm, Mark Stock PRODUCTION Creative Director Julie Showers Projects Art Director Alyssa Walker Designers Tricia Hipps, Rick Vodicka Photography Intern Nino Ortiz Design/Illustration Interns Sonja Synak
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DIALOGUE In the wake of the May 26 MAX killings, Mayor Ted Wheeler asked the federal government to revoke permits for a June 4 “free speech” rally. The feds said no. Meanwhile, local and national publications have tried to piece together how exactly Jeremy Christian turned into a white supremacist and alleged killer (“Who Radicalized Jeremy Christian?” WW, May 31, 2017). Here’s a sampling of the responses.
getting old. Trump is merely a pendulum swing in the opposite direction from the momentum created by President Obama.” Patrick Blanchfield, on The Baffler: “The right wants to distance itself from the Portland attacks, since it has looked the other way at extrajudicial violence against minorities and Muslims in particular.”
“Baneblade” on wweek.com: “Once again, we see the Left showing just how much respect it has for Freedom of Speech, which is to say none at all. Wheeler is such a hypocrite.” “Free “Incogneato” on wweek.com: “‘Free speech’ has never meant anything to these bulletheads except their right to harass people. That’s what it meant to Christian and that’s what it means to the rest of these alt-right scum.”
Michael Harriot, on The Root: “[Jeremy] Christian, like many of his ilk, has constructed an insane line of reaspeech soning in his brain that makes him believe that an uneducated, homehas never less felon drinking Kool-Aid and meant tequila on public transportation anything to is a superior human being simply because he is white.” these
bulletheads.”
Editorial board, in The Washington Post: “Mr. Wheeler’s concern for the raw feelings of his community is understandable, but he is completely off-base in trying to block the planned rallies and dangerously wrong in his reading of the U.S. Constitution. Speech, no matter how vile or distasteful, is protected in the United States.” Portland activist Gregory McKelvey, on Medium: “It seems obvious that if it were an ISISinfluenced individual to have performed a double execution-style murder in the heart of Portland, ISIS and their other extremist friends would not be granted permission to hold a troll rally in the heart of the city a few days later.” Jim Graham, via Facebook: “The desperation of the media to tie every lunatic to Donald Trump is
Jamelle Bouie, on Slate: “All of this takes place against a backdrop of political intolerance. Donald Trump ran for president on a platform of ethnonationalism, offering interested white voters a chance to express and vote their resentments against Hispanic immigrants, Muslim Americans, and groups like Black Lives Matter. His campaign brought explicitly racist groups, individuals, and institutions into the mainstream.” Scott Johnson, letter to WW: “Jeremy Joseph Christian wants to be a celebrity criminal, a martyr for his sick delusional cause. Our media should not accommodate him. Do not disseminate his name. Let him be the anonymous loser that he is.”
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. Email: mzusman@wweek.com
BY MA RT Y SMIT H
Couldn’t we recycle Styrofoam to make homes for the homeless? They could be coated or covered by something hard, like a shell, made out of other recyclables. It doesn’t take much money or space to shelter people while they sleep. Why don’t we? —Y, Y, Y? “Coated or covered with something hard, like a shell,” eh? Pardon my confusion, but for a moment there it sounded like you were proposing to end homelessness by laminating the disadvantaged. “True, she still has nowhere to stay—but as you can see, she’s now completely weatherproof!” The main problem with your idea is the fact that polystyrene foam can’t be recycled. That’s why it’s so unpopular—it just crumbles into ever-tinier pieces until it winds up in the abdomen of some unfortunate seabird. And that, Y., is why your plan sucks! But in a larger sense, you’re onto something: What if we built small, modest homes for the less fortunate in existing neighborhoods? This is the idea behind the “A Place for You” pilot program, first reported by WW in March. Basically, Multnomah County will build a granny 4
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
flat in your backyard if you let a homeless (and usually dadless) family live there for five years. So far, there are plans for just four units. But let’s hope for more, because if there’s one thing poverty wonks can agree on, it’s that getting poor folks into middle-class neighborhoods improves outcomes to an extravagant degree. It’s a way to get the widely touted benefits of mixed-income housing without waiting for action from penny-pinching developers or skeptical neighborhood associations. When they ask, “In whose backyard?” tell them, “Mine.” PS: This is Dr. Know #400. Please summon a visual of your host forlornly blowing a children’s party noisemaker while wearing a tiny party hat on his barren head. Then send money. QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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Governor’s Asset Sale Panel Is All Democrats
Gov. Kate Brown last week named the seven-member panel that will consider selling a variety of public assets—including several state agencies—to raise up to $5 billion to reduce the state pension deficit (“The Price Is Right,” WW, May 17, 2017). Records show all seven people Brown appointed are registered Democrats. Should the group fail to reach Brown’s $5 billion target, the lack of political bipartisanship on the panel could prove a rich target. “As if appointing a task force to address one of Oregon’s biggest problems wasn’t underwhelming enough already,” says Preston Mann, a spokesman for the House Republicans, “the fact that the group is exclusively made up of Democrats will do nothing to inspire confidence among Oregonians that the [Public Employee Retirement System] disaster will be adequately addressed.” Brown’s spokesman Chris Pair declined to comment.
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Legislation that would award Oregon electoral votes in presidential elections to the winner of the national popular vote has passed the Oregon House for the fourth time in five years. This year, Senate President Peter Courtney, who has blocked the legislation in years past, has proposed a compromise: send the issue to the voters. But supporters of the measure would prefer to scrap the idea rather than see a ballot referral. “National Popular Vote is absolutely not supportive of a referral of the bill that just passed the House,” says Justin Martin, a lobbyist for the effort. “Ten other states and D.C. have passed this bill without refer-
ring it to the voters, just like the founders intended.”
Sex Assault Suspect Returns
Daniel Armando Gonzalez is back in Oregon. The former Legacy Emanuel custodian fled to California after being charged in February with sexually assaulting a 12-yearold girl (“Found and Lost,” WW, May 3, 2017). He was captured there by U.S. marshals last month, extradited to Oregon and arraigned on June 2. He is charged with attempted sexual abuse in the first degree and private indecency related to the girl, and 34 counts of invasion of privacy for allegedly pointing a hidden camera up women’s skirts and dresses at Legacy. Gonzalez was released on bail pending trial. ANDREW MOIR
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WW Recognized for Investigative Reporting
Breaking news from the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: A Willamette Week report exposing high levels of lead in the drinking water of dozens of Portland public schools has been recognized by the Bruce Baer Awards, which honor the top investigative reporting in Oregon. The stories selected for special recognition were written last spring by WW reporter Rachel Monahan and former staffer Beth Slovic (now at the Portland Tribune). They detailed how Portland Public Schools compiled a database showing dangerously high levels of lead in water from drinking fountains and faucets in schools across the city—then tried to hide those results from teachers and parents. This year’s first prize went to The Oregonian’s Rob Davis for his series on lead in National Guard armories.
Read more Murmurs and daily scuttlebutt.
NEWS
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK
The Trial of Jeremy Christian
A true life sentence (with no possibility of parole).
THE CASE AGAINST THE ACCUSED MAX MURDERER HINGES ON A HANDFUL OF KEY DECISIONS. On June 7, Jeremy Christian will be indicted for aggravated murder.
If he’s found unable to assist in his defense:
If he’s found guilty of murder, a jury must decide whether he’s given: He goes to the Oregon State Hospital. No trial.
Next, he’ll be given a psychiatric assessment. If he’s found mentally competent:
The death penalty.
Murder trial.
Guilty of murder.
He could plead or a jury could find him:
Guilty of a lesser offense. Guilty but insane. Not guilty.
BY NIG E L JAQ UI SS
njaquiss@wweek.com
When accused murderer Jeremy Joseph Christian appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing June 7, he will begin what experts say will be a long process. “If a murder case goes to trial in a year, that’s quick,” says former Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad. At least two major questions hang over the case against Christian, who is accused of fatally stabbing Rick Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche on a Portland MAX train on May 26. The first is Christian’s mental health. “From what I’ve read, this case isn’t a question of facts,” says Harcleroad, referring to prosecutors’ assertion that TriMet security cameras and cellphone videos captured the killings. “It’s a question of mental health.” Laura Graser, a Portland criminal defense attorney who has represented dozens of accused murderers, says the first threshold will be whether Christian is competent to aid and
assist in his own defense. “He sure looks crazy to me,” says Graser, who is not involved in the case. Normally, she and Harcleroad say, the prosecution would attempt to get an assessment of the defendant’s state of mind in the time period before the killings. If the court finds Christian unable to assist in his defense, proceedings against him would be halted and he would be sent to the Oregon State Hospital until his condition improves. If he is fit to stand trial, the second big question is whether Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill will seek the death penalty. (Underhill’s office declined to comment.) The DA’s office last week charged Christian with aggravated murder, which under Oregon law means the death penalty is an option. Underhill is under no obligation to announce whether he’ll seek death until the penalty phase of the trial—after the jury reaches a verdict.
Graser says one clue will be whether prosecutors seek what is called a “death-qualified jury” through a special process in which potential jurors are queried about their views on execution. Graser says the death penalty is ineffective and often misused. Harcleroad, however, says it can be a strong bargaining chip to get defendants to accept a “true life” sentence and waive appeals. “It’s a really powerful tool,” Harcleroad says. “It can save an awful lot of time and money and bring closure to victims.” The chart above shows the turning points to watch for as the case plays out.
“
THEY HAVE A FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO SPEAK, BUT HATE SPEECH IS NOT PROTECTED.”
TIMELINE
MAYOR WHEELER AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler took several positions on the First Amendment during the past two weeks. None of them worked. On May 29, Wheeler asked the federal government to block a downtown Portland rally organized by right-wing protesters, saying visiting extremists had no legal right to hate speech. That request was denied by the feds, decried by civil liberties watchdogs, and sneered at by
“alt-right” leaders. Worse, he was wrong: The protections of the U.S. Constitution are designed to forbid the government, including Portland mayors, from deciding what citizens can and cannot say, even when it is deeply offensive. By this week, Wheeler’s office reversed itself again, saying the mayor had misspoken. Here’s what he said. RACHEL MONAHAN.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 In a WW story on the street brawls that had already occurred between alt-right and antifascist groups, Wheeler’s spokesman Michael Cox said: “Portland is going to continue with our strategy: honoring First Amendment rights while not tolerating acts of violence, vandalism or blocking transit.”
MONDAY, MAY 30 Three days after a double murder on a MAX train, Wheeler called for revoking federal permits for the alt-right rally: “My main concern is that they are coming to peddle a message
of hatred and of bigotry. And I am reminded constantly that they have a First Amendment right to speak, but my pushback on that is that hate speech is not protected.”
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 Wheeler wrote an op-ed in USA Today, backing away from his interpretation of the Constitution from a day earlier:
“I am a firm supporter of the First Amendment. While this planned demonstration is constitutional, it is highly irresponsible.”
MONDAY, JUNE 5 Cox said Wheeler didn’t really mean hate speech was unconstitutional: “He was being a being a bit imprecise. He was really talking about words meant to incite violence.”
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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JOE MICHAEL RIEDL
NEWS
HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL: Two transit police officers patrol a MAX stop in Old Town on June 5.
Crime-Fighting Train THE DOUBLE SLAYING ON THE MAX INTENSIFIES DEBATE OVER TRIMET’S PLANS TO INCREASE TRANSIT POLICE. BY E L I S E HE R R O N
eherron@wweek.com
Ana Del Rocio is a first-generation Peruvian American who rides MAX trains in Portland daily, often with her two small children. In the wake of the May 26 double murder on a MAX train, you might expect Del Rocio to be eager for more police to patrol public transit. She’s not. “I’ve had at least half a dozen horrible experiences with transit police in the three years I’ve been in Portland,” Del Rocio says. She recalls a day in 2015 when she was eight months pregnant and transit police kicked her off a MAX train because she couldn’t access her electronic fare on her cellphone. “I want my kids to be safe from fear,” she says. “I want to challenge the idea that police equals safety.” In the days after the fatal stabbings of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche and Rick Best, TriMet pledged to increase police presence on public transit. The agency was already moving in that direction, and the high-profile crimes galvanized TriMet’s push. The transit agency says extra security is needed immediately to reassure fearful citizens that public transit is safe to ride. But some rider advocates and the bus drivers’ union swiftly panned TriMet’s proposal—intensifying an existing debate over police officers on Portland’s trains and buses. They say that armed police aboard transit are an ineffective presence, and worry that TriMet will use the killings as a justification for policies that disproportionately target and harm people of color. The debate might seem surprising in the days after a shocking double murder allegedly committed by a white supremacist (who himself had been repeatedly kicked off the MAX for failing to show proof of fare). But it reflects national unease with police treatment of minorities—and local outrage over police killings of black men, including Terrell Johnson, 24, who was fatally shot by a Portland transit police officer May 10.
“Increased criminalization of low-income people after a violent incident makes zero sense,” says Shawn Fleek, an organizer for Bus Riders Unite, an advocacy group that for the past seven years has pressed for lower fares and fewer citations for poor riders. “Throwing police at the system doesn’t equal safety. The correct solution is not to add additional personnel with deadly weapons.” Before last week, 65 armed police officers patrolled MAX trains. Such officers typically issue fare citations, patrol train stations, arrest suspected criminals, and provide surveillance. The officers are on loan from 15 local law enforcement agencies: the Portland Police Bureau and neighboring city police departments like Gresham and Beaverton. They are trained police officers on call to respond to TriMet incidents. They must always carry guns.
“THROWING POLICE AT THE SYSTEM DOESN’T EQUAL SAFETY.” —SHAWN FLEEK, BUS RIDERS UNITE
“Transit police [exist] to help keep people safe. It is that simple,” says Harry Saporta, TriMet’s executive director of safety and security. “We want to assure everyone that the system is safe to ride.” Just two days before the killings, TriMet’s board of directors voted to approve a 2018 budget that included $1.6 million for 15 additional fare inspectors. They would not carry guns. In the days after the MAX killings, TriMet is re-evaluating its plans and is now weighing the idea of arming the 15 new inspectors. “This is all part of the bigger picture of transit security,” Saporta says. “[They] are primarily fare enforcers, but they will help with security on the system. They’re an extension of transit police in terms of riding and observing.” In the week after the killings, TriMet also hired 15
security guards—not police officers, but private security carrying guns. Those hires are in addition to the agency’s 15 existing contract security guards. TriMet says the increased police presence will continue at least through the end of the Rose Festival. TriMet’s beefed-up security measures, according to Saporta, are “not based on crime statistics, they are based on one really unfortunate event.” It’s unclear whether crime on TriMet buses and trains is going up. Data released by TriMet last year shows riderreported crimes decreased 40 percent between 2013 and 2015. TriMet has not released 2016 crime statistics, saying they are still being finalized. Rider advocates also oppose TriMet’s plans for an $11 million transit detention center in the Rose Quarter—a building which activists call a “TriMet jail.” (TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt says the building is not a jail and would include just two holding cells, and would mostly serve as an office for transit security managers.) In the days after the MAX slayings and TriMet’s announcement of increased policing, activists decried the call for more armed officers. They were soon joined by a powerful ally: the transit workers’ union. On May 31, Amalgamated Transit Union Division 757 released a statement condemning TriMet’s rush to increase transit security. The union’s central complaint: Transit police don’t respond fast enough to calls for help from bus drivers and train operators. “We call them ‘maybe police,’” says Henry Beasley, a 10-year TriMet bus driver. “They may be there and they may not be.” Saporta says officers respond as quickly as possible. “If there are specific circumstances [of slow responses], I would love to know, because I am unaware [of them],” he says. The union instead wants TriMet to increase fare inspectors—hired by TriMet, unarmed and, not least, represented by ATU. Meanwhile, rider advocates say employing “transit ambassadors” would be more effective than police at making people feel safe. “For people of color, people with mental health issues or young homeless riders, police are a danger,” Del Rocio says. Their proposed alternative: have volunteers ride transit to offer services to other riders, such as calming tense situations. TriMet says that wouldn’t do much good against a knife-wielding madman. “We are like many other cities nationwide with transit police,” Saporta says. “We all have the same purpose and mission, which is to keep people safe.” Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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NEWS
“IT’S INCONSISTENT WITH HER WORK IN THE LEGISLATURE AND AT DHS. BUT THEY PAY WELL, AND MONEY IS MONEY.”
VICENTE MARTI
—CHUCK TAUMAN, TOBACCO FREE COALITION OF OREGON
Blowing Smoke ONCE THE LEGISLATURE’S LEADING HEALTH CARE ADVOCATE, MARGARET CARTER IS NOW HELPING BIG TOBACCO FIGHT AGAINST RAISING THE LEGAL SMOKING AGE. BY NIG E L JAQ UI SS
njaquiss@wweek.com
Until recently, Oregon appeared poised to join California and Hawaii in raising the legal age for buying tobacco from 18 to 21. Senate Bill 754 drew broad support from public health advocates, including the Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Medical Association and the Oregon Nurses Association. It easily passed the Senate, and was expected to fly through the House to Gov. Kate Brown’s desk. (More than 7,000 Oregonians a year die from tobacco-related causes, making it the state’s leading cause of preventable death.) But the tobacco lobby has turned to an influential friend to extinguish the bill. On March 20, records show, the world’s largest tobacco company, Altria (formerly known as Philip Morris), hired former state Sen. Margaret Carter (D-Portland) as a lobbyist. Carter, 81, is a well-known name in Salem. In 1985, she became the first black woman elected to the Oregon Legislature. She finished her career in 2009 as co-chair of the powerful Joint Ways and Means Committee. And since signing on to lobby for Altria, Carter has pushed a narrative that stopped SB 754 cold: She told law10
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makers that raising the legal age for buying tobacco could give police an excuse to racially profile minority youth. The bill sailed through the House Health Care Committee, but on May 24, Democratic leaders pulled it from the House floor just before a vote. That rarely happens. The reason, lobbyists say, is that by convincing enough House members that racial profiling would be a problem, Carter managed to block the bill’s passage. “The folks lobbying in the House were different from those in the Senate,” says Jenn Baker, a lobbyist for the ONA. “[Carter] worked on it in the House and raised the issue of profiling for 18- to 21-year-olds.” The bill was sent to the House Rules Committee for possible amendment to address the issues Carter raised. “There was still a lot of concern in the Trump era that there would be racial profiling,” says state Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer (D-Portland), a chief sponsor of the bill. One state representative says, however, that Carter didn’t disclose who had hired her. State Rep. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha) says Carter lobbied several of his colleagues, telling them the bill could lead to racial profiling. Barker says some colleagues told him Carter had not disclosed she was working for Altria. “To try to kill a bill that way when you are really representing a tobacco com-
pany is not right,” Barker says. “I’m disappointed in her.” Carter declined several requests by WW for comment, directing questions to Altria. Chuck Tauman, president of the Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon, says the objections Carter posed are a red herring because there’s no evidence cops use tobacco as a pretext for hassling young smokers in Oregon, nor is there a penalty for underage possession of tobacco in the bill. (It punishes retailers instead.) “It seems like a bogus argument, and it’s typical of Altria’s approach,” he says. Black Oregonians smoke at a far higher rate than whites, the opposite of the national pattern. And figures show that 9 out of 10 smokers begin the habit before the age of 21, so blocking the sale of tobacco to young smokers could make a big difference, not only for black teenagers but all young people. “Increasing the minimum age to purchase cigarettes from 18 to 21 could have a meaningful impact, resulting in an estimated 12 percent decrease in smoking prevalence over time,” Karen Girard, a manager in chronic disease prevention for the Oregon Health Authority, told lawmakers April 24. Tauman says that he’s “disappointed” that Carter is helping the tobacco giant head off stricter regulation of youth smoking. “It’s inconsistent with her work in the Legislature and at DHS,” Tauman says. “But they pay well, and money is money.” As a lawmaker, Carter zealously advocated for the Department of Human Services budget. Carter had earlier worked as a counselor at Portland Community College for 16 years. The school later named its technology building after her. Following her legislative career, she joined DHS as deputy director in 2009. She retired from the agency in 2014 and, according to state figures, now collects an annual pension of $102,360. Carter began working as a lobbyist in 2016, advocating in Salem for Celgene, a New Jersey pharmaceutical company, and in Portland for fast-food restaurants opposed to a proposed ban on new drive-thru windows. This session, records show, she’s also lobbying for the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association political action committee and Cura Cannabis Solutions, an Oregon provider of cannabis oil. Tauman, who as a trial lawyer won two multimilliondollar cases against Altria, says Carter and Altria’s lobbying against SB 754 may violate the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (of which Oregon is a beneficiary) that prohibits the company from opposing legislation that would have the effect of “reducing youth access to, and the incidence of youth consumption of, tobacco products.” Altria spokesman David Sutton disagrees. He says “youth” means anyone under 18, and so legislation addressing people over 18 is irrelevant to the settlement agreement. Altria’s lobbying has delayed the bill, but may not ultimately kill it. House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland) says she’s optimistic SB 754 will be amended in the House Rules Committee, which she chairs, and returned for a floor vote. “My concern is police being able to stop someone because of this bill,” Williamson says. “If we can fix that, I’m very supportive.”
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JOE MICHAEL RIEDL
NEWS
THREE WAY: Portland riot police (above) formed a barrier surrounding Terry Schrunk Plaza on three sides June 4. That human wall was intended to create distance between “alt-right” protesters (below left) and antifascist activists (below right), both of whom came dressed for battle.
Keep ’Em Separated PORTLAND BREATHES A SIGH OF RELIEF AFTER THE WEEKEND PROTESTER SHOWDOWN. BUT SOME LOCALS COMPLAIN ABOUT POLICE TACTICS.
BY KARIN A B R OWN
@karinapdx
For the past week, Portlanders anticipated the impending clash between traveling right-wing agitators and masked lefty activists with concern. The timing of an “alt-right” rally in downtown, nine days after the racially charged murder of two men on a MAX train, had many locals wondering if Portland would become the latest U.S. city to host bloody political street brawls. But June 4, the confrontation ended with a whimper—and a few bangs. A crowd of more than 1,000 left-leaning demonstrators arrived downtown first, and gradually surrounded the roughly 250 alt-right protesters who gathered wearing helmets and other DIY riot gear in Terry Schrunk Plaza. For hours, left-wing protesters harangued the visitors, calling them Nazis. The right-wing protesters taunted back. But neither side made much effort to breach the ring of police and Homeland Security officers who formed a human wall around the plaza. The most lasting grievance from the afternoon was a familiar complaint: that Portland police cracked down too aggressively on local antifascists and anarchists. Police used stun grenades and rubber bullets to drive masked antifa protesters from Chapman Square, and made 14 arrests. “This was an entire crowd of peaceful protesters that had literally done nothing wrong,” wrote protest organizer Gregory McKelvey in a widely shared June 5 web post. “Their only crime was standing up to white supremacy in a peaceful way.” The Portland Police Bureau said
“THE CONSTITUTION ALLOWS PEOPLE TO SAY REALLY NASTY THINGS ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND TO EACH OTHER.” officers acted in response to people in the crowd throwing bricks and large firecrackers at riot police. Those allegations could not be independently confirmed, but reporters did see protesters throw bloody tampons at officers while chanting, “All cops are bastards!” In a Trump-despising town, the police tactics felt heavy-handed to some civil rights activists and raised questions about law enforcement punishing many people for the bad behavior of a few. But those tactics may also have averted a street war—by moving the two most extreme political factions away from each other long enough for alt-right leaders to quietly leave town. As police chased left-wing activists, detaining some in the middle of downtown streets, alt-right celebrities like California’s Kyle Chapman gave
speeches praising nationalism and religion. (“Countries like Russia, which have continued to embrace God, have stayed strong,” Chapman said. “Secular nations that have abandoned God are facing terroristic threats.”) They then wandered the streets, looking for the garage where they had parked their cars. Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson says the bureau’s goal was keeping the antifa and alt-right apart. “I’ve seen the narrative: ‘Police are protecting Nazis,’” says Simpson. “That’s baloney. The Constitution allows people to say really nasty things about each other, and to each other. Our job is to keep everybody separate and everybody safe. Everybody gets to go home.” Read more pressing questions from the protests at wweek.com. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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COOK THAT! A BATTLE OVER BREAKFAST BURRITOS LED TO DEATH THREATS AND REVEALED PORTLAND’S DEEP RACE DIVIDE. WE ASKED FOUR CHEFS WHERE WE GO FROM HERE.
THOMAS TEAL
BY MATTHEW KOR FHAGE
We probably should have seen Kooks coming. But we really didn’t anticipate that a short and positive review of a weekends-only breakfast burrito pop-up a couple of weeks ago would ignite an international incident—a rage-filled conversation about cultural appropriation that led to opinion pieces in the London Daily Mail and The Washington Post and on Fox News, not to mention on Mexican social media. It was a perfect storm. The photograph that ran with our May 17 review of Kooks depicted two young, middleclass-looking women triumphantly holding burritos up in the air. Our article described how the two women “lost their minds” over handmade flour tortillas on an impromptu getaway to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico. “I picked the brains of every tortilla lady there in the worst broken Spanish ever, and they showed me a little of what they did,” Kooks co-owner Liz Connelly told WW. “They told us the basic ingredients, and we saw them moving and stretching the dough similar to how pizza makers do before rolling it out with rolling pins. They wouldn’t tell us too much about technique, but we were peeking into the windows of every kitchen, totally fascinated by how easy they made it look. We learned quickly it isn’t quite that easy.” We’ve told similar stories about food inspiration many times in the past—two Portlanders who’d taken a motorcycle surfing trip to Mexico, fallen in love with grilled chicken and brought the recipe back home to their food cart; or Andy Ricker’s trips to Thailand, on breaks from being a house painter, which led to Pok Pok and his celebrity status across the United States and in Thailand. But this time, the story about Kooks provided tinder for a cultural inferno. More than 1,500 comments were posted, with still thousands more on Facebook—some defending, others attacking the Kooks owners, who were derided as white “Beckys” even though one of the two Kooks owners is a quarter Chinese. “This article is a clear example of how media perpetuates and reinforces racism and white supremacy, brandishing it as ‘fun’ and ‘innovative,’” read one comment. Another demanded that the two women send remunerations back to Mexico for the cultural theft of tortilla recipes. Others defended the women’s right to make burritos.
mkorfhage@wweek.com
After the review was published, Kristin Goodman, co-founder of feminist workspace Broadspace, circulated what she called a “shit list” of “white-owned, appropriative restaurants.” The list names more than 60 restaurants that serve ethnic cuisine but are owned by a white person. “White business owners wield economic and ‘cultural capital’ advantages over POC (people of color” business owners, so they are ‘punching down’ by appropriating cuisines from people who are disadvantaged in comparison,” the list says. The list identifies Pok Pok (Thai), Voodoo Doughnut (religious appropriation) and the Alibi (Polynesian), with suggestions of POC-owned businesses that readers of the list should frequent instead. The Portland Mercury decried the “pattern of appropriation” Kooks represented and linked to the list, calling it a “who’s who of culinary white supremacy.” Nine days later, the Mercury pulled the Kooks story from its website and issued a retraction, writing that it could “no longer stand by the veracity of this story.” Goodman is not the original author of the list. The Google Document’s history shows the file was created on May 18 by Portland vegan activist Alex Felsinger. Felsinger says that the list was part of a private conversation among activists, but that he had no part in sharing the list publicly. In the wake of all this, Walker MacMurdo, writer of the Kooks review, was contacted by Germany’s Der Spiegel, Russian television station Moscow 24 and Australian comedian Jim Jefferies’ talk show. Meanwhile, the owners of Kooks received so many threats—at least 10 of which were death threats, they told WW— that two days after our review appeared, they closed their business because they felt unsafe. In all of this, one group seemed conspicuously absent from the fervent dialogue: chefs in Portland, both those who make food from other cultures, and immigrants who brought their cuisine with them. Last week, we invited several chefs to speak their mind in an open conversation. The chefs all sat down at Old Town restaurant Mi Mero Mole, for a meal of breakfast burritos. Here’s the conversation that ensued—which has been edited and condensed for clarity: CONT. on page 19
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PHOTOS BY THOMAS TEAL
You can’t cook that!
HAN LY HWANG, 37, first learned to cook Korean food from his mother in Fairfax, Va., before taking his first cooking jobs at Chili’s and Applebee’s. His Portland food cart, Kim Jong Grillin’, was destroyed in a fire on the same night it was judged best food cart at WW cart festival Cart Mobile in 2011. He rebuilt it in 2014, and now also co-owns two locations of a Korean-American fusion concept called Kim Jong Smokehouse, with chefs BJ Smith and Earl Ninsom.
NICK ZUKIN, 44, grew up near Eugene, where he learned to fry his first tortilla at age 5 from Arizonan and Californian parents. He is co-founder of Kenny and Zuke’s New York-style deli. After years of promoting Mexican-run businesses in Portland (including as an occasional contributor to WW) and studying Mexican food in Mexico, he started Mexican-restaurant Mi Mero Mole in 2012—which has placed him on the list of “white owned appropriative restaurants” circulated online.
On the outrage over Kooks Burritos... Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom, owner of Thai restaurants Hat Yai and PaaDee: Honestly, I thought it was funny. [Non-Mexican] people have been making Mexican food for a long time, and it never became a story. It was never a problem. Why? If it was true they went to just stay [in Mexico] for a day and see what was going on, understand exactly how they do it, keep doing it and execute and perfect the recipe, then I was supportive.
“THERE WERE SO MANY DAYS WHEN I HAD TO WONDER, AM I KOREAN ENOUGH TO MAKE THIS FOOD?” —Han Ly Hwang
Han Ly Hwang, owner of Korean restaurant Kim Jong Grillin’: I know these two women; I don’t think there was any malicious intent. However, if you’re gonna do a quote-unquote “appropriated” business, it’s all about the approach. I think the whole story would have been different if they came and said, “You know what? We were there forever. I blew through my whole savings account to learn how to make tortillas, and here I am.” Anh Luu, owner of Vietnamese-Cajun restaurant Tapalaya: Why is it these girls, right now? Lots of people of different races have been opening up restaurants that are not of their own race. That’s how it is—it’s a restaurant. I feel like the article that was written wasn’t quite fair to them. I don’t think they knew what they were getting ready to talk about. “I’m peeking into windows,” is kind of just a
EARL NINSOM, 38, was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and began cooking with his parents and grandparents at a young age. He first helped his family start Thai restaurant Thai Cottage in 2008, and has since started or helped start restaurants Mee-Sen, Tarad Thai, PaaDee, nationally lauded pop-up Langbaan, Kim Jong Smokehouse and WW’s 2016 Pop-In of the Year, fast-casual Southern Thai spot Hat Yai.
ANH LUU, 31, was born and raised in New Orleans, where she first learned cooking from her mother—although her first cooking job was at age 15, at a Mexican restaurant called Vaquero. After she moved to Portland in 2009, her first job was at Cajun restaurant Tapalaya, where she has slowly introduced Vietnamese influences to the food. Luu bought the restaurant this March.
phrase. I’m not sure if they actually did that. I want to highlight the fact that they are women, too. I feel like if two white dudes had opened a burrito truck saying, “We spent a few months in Mexico speaking broken Spanish,” people would be like, “Oh, cool, brah! That’s awesome!”
Luu: If you’re cooking Thai food outside of Thailand—even in Myanmar or China—it’s not gonna be authentic. All food travels around the world, and every culture has their own version. It’s all getting blown way out of proportion, and people are taking it too seriously. It’s food. If it’s good, eat it.
Hwang: If two white dudes went and caught all the best waves and came back with a burrito pop-up, unfortunately, I think I agree with you, I don’t think it’d be that bad. I think it’d be almost a romantic story.
Hwang: One thing I want to touch on: Our business [Korean-American barbecue fusion spot Kim Jong Smokehouse, in which Nimson is also a partner], we have a business together, and one of the partners is BJ Smith. He’s a white hipster chef, a lot of tattoos, funny guy. But if he did it alone, it’d be curtains for him. But because we are the validators of the Korean aspect, or the Thai aspect, now he’s validated. Nobody gives him any crap.
Nick Zukin, owner of Mexican restaurant Mi Mero Mole: There’s a dismissiveness [to the reaction to the review]. Everybody is like, “Oh, these girls, they’re just a couple sorority girls.” Hwang: It’s super-sexist.
On authenticity... Hwang: I think the authenticity thing comes up a lot. For me it’s like, this is what I grew up eating, and I happen to be Korean, and this is what I’m selling. But there were so many days when I had to wonder, am I Korean enough to make this food? If a Korean person comes by my food truck, are they going to say to me, “This is the worst thing ever. Close, go hang yourself”? Zukin: But you say “a Korean,” as if it’s one thing. Even people of color do this—they try to lump together all Koreans as if they’re the same. I get this because I’m white making Mexican food, so there’s a certain suspicion level with some people that it’s not going to be authentic. I’ll have one person come in and say, “This is amazing, it’s exactly how my grandmother makes it.” And then the next week someone will say, “This isn’t even mole.”
Luu: I did a phorrito [pho and burrito fusion] popup that was all the rage, and not one time did I ever receive any criticism that I was appropriating Mexican cuisine. Is that fair? If I was a white woman, they would have totally been like, “What are you doing?” [But] I’m a chef, and I’m Vietnamese. Hwang: [Minorities] have a bigger privilege of being able to play with that. I look at Bo Kwon [of Koi Fusion], great example. He’s a baller, but he has a food that’s not Korean, and it’s not really Mexican, it’s his own thing. I haven’t seen any white-appropriated Korean places, but if there were, I would go in and be like, “Alright, I’m going to hold you to the highest standard I possibly can. You better be able to speak Korean better than I do. It better be one of those Mowgli, Koreans-adopted-you situations.” Zukin: There’s a colonialist history between Japan and Korea: Would you be OK with a Japanese place doing Korean barbecue? Hwang: That’s a really good question. In my generation, Koreans like myself are trying to erase that separation between Korea and Japan. CONT. on page 20
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If Portlanders were so upset about Kooks, why have they fallen in love with Pok Pok, a Thai restaurant conceived by a white man? Zukin: It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you’ll say Andy Ricker was only able to get as popular as he was because he is white.
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Hwang: [Ricker] is a very unique case. He went above and beyond, and really researched. The gentrification and appropriation thing doesn’t stop with him—he’s still making money off somebody else’s culture—but he’s also doing something
list feel represented by it. I wouldn’t if I were on the list—on that side of the list. And what the hell? Voodoo Doughnut? Like, “religious appropriation”? What the actual fuck? I’m from New Orleans, where voodoo is actually around! Voodoo Doughnut being religious appropriation is ridiculous. Hwang: I don’t think [this list] helps. What’s it going to achieve? It’s not like any of those business owners are peering behind a white curtain, thinking, “I hope they don’t find out.” It’s openly out there. Ten years ago in Portland, the color spectrum was very, very slim. It’s getting better. And we’re finally a real city. How many Beard [Awards] do we have now? How many nationally talked-about restaurants? This means there’s more money for us now. There are more ways to make a living, and we don’t have to work for other people. It think that the list is counterproductive. And I agree with Anh Luu, I think it’s kind of racist. Luu: Calling out only white people? There are plenty of non-white people appropriating other people’s cultures, too!
NewS | ARTS & cULTURe FooD & DRINk | eVeNTS | mUSIc moVIeS | coNTeSTS | GIVeAwAYS
Hwang: Careful. That phorrito might come back and catch you! Luu: If I were white, they’d be like, “You’re appropriating two cultures!” The list is completely unfair, because it’s out of context. Not everyone knows everything about all the businesses and all the people listed. You just can’t judge a book by its cover. It’s unfair that those girls had their business shut down.
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On the free flow of food culture... KOOKS’ LIZ “LC” CONNELLY AND KALI WILGUS
really important. He’s educating. He’s teaching people, this is why these fish sauce wings are like this. We don’t have chopsticks for this, there are forks for that. He’s good with educating. Ninsom: I couldn’t [serve unfamiliar Thai food] at first—because I didn’t know you could before. It was too much risk. You didn’t want to put all your effort into something that would die. Luu: Ricker is doing his part to educate people about the culture, but in these times, you will always have the person that’s going to be on the opposite side of that page. He would be heavily scrutinized. Zukin: There definitely would be more pushback now. The people who organize these sorts of [social media protests] are much more mainstream than they were 10 years ago. It’s the norm now.
June 11 -d Pizza afoo Grilled Se
On the list of whiteowned, appropriative restaurants... Luu: It’s hard to believe that the person or people who wrote this list can’t see that this list is racist in itself. I just don’t see how they don’t see it. And that’s why they’re being cowardly, and won’t fess up about who wrote the list. I don’t think the culturally “ethnic” people on the
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Zukin: Honestly, I don’t worry about cultural appropriation. I worry about people doing things that are racist, mocking or demeaning. The entire history of food is people appropriating, exchanging, influencing, borrowing, etc. I bet you can’t imagine Korean food without chilies, and chilies are from Mexico. Hwang: It happened in the 1500s, yeah. Zukin: Is it the appropriation that bothers you, or is it the attitude, the approach? Hwang: The appropriation is going to happen. It happens no matter what. With Kooks, if I want to be really racist and sexist about it, if I see two white girls making burritos, what do you think the avocado ratio is on that burrito? It must have been astronomical! It would have been awesome! And now we’ll never know! Luu: Every form of art has appropriation. That’s what happens. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Unless you’re trying to be like, “This is my idea now.” Hwang: I took my mom to Departure [whose chef is Gregory Gourdet, who is of Haitian descent], had her order the bibimbap, and asked her, “What do you think?” She said, “It’s really good, it’s vegetarian, it’s awesome.” And then I brought out Gregory, and she was like, “No way!” Her head exploded. Zukin: I think one thing people don’t realize is that
THOMAS TEAL
You can’t cook that!
“IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE PERSON OR PEOPLE WHO WROTE THIS LIST CAN’T SEE THAT THIS LIST IS RACIST IN ITSELF.” —Anh Luu
when I go to Mexico, the older Mexicans that I’m usually working with and learning from, they’re seeing their traditions being lost to younger generations who are more and more influenced by corporate foods and global foods. They’re losing their traditions. They’re super-excited to see anyone, of any nationality and any race, wanting to preserve and continue those traditions. That’s what I see in Mexico.
On whether future chefs will be afraid to work with foods from other cultures... Zukin: It actually already was a concern. I considered bringing in a partner who was Mexican or Latino to give [Mi Mero Mole] credibility, even if it was entirely dishonest. It’s something people think about: You have to partner with somebody, even if they’re not the one who’s truly passionate about the food. I get attacked by Mexican Americans who grew up eating mac ’n’ cheese and Taco Bell. I grew up eating this food three times a week, and I’ve studied it.
I understand it’s not my heritage’s food, but why is it not my food? It’s the same way a New Yorker will think pizza is their food, even if it’s Italian. Luu: The fact of the matter is, this situation will deter people from opening something that isn’t of their own ethnicity. Which sucks, because then we’re not going to have the future Andy Rickers. Food should just be judged by how good it is. Hwang: Plain and simple. Thank you. Luu: I don’t care who’s making it. Sure, I care about their story, if that’s what they want to highlight about it. But if you eat something, and you think it’s good, then support it. As a person of color who does get a lot of press myself, I don’t feel that white people are infringing. There’s no other Cajun place in Portland that’s getting more press, and all the other Cajun places are owned by white people. Zukin: One of the weird things is, the focus is on ethnicity and race, but I feel like the bigger issue is class. There’s no acknowledgement of each of us as an individual—that we all have individual disadvantages and privileges in life, that some poor person from a methed-out mom in Kentucky can be worse off than a third-generation Indian whose parents are both obstetricians. And there’s no acknowledgement: “You’re brown? Oh, you’re worse off.” How is that not more prejudiced than a white person owning a Mexican restaurant—to reduce people just to their color and not their individual story, and what they’ve overcome? I don’t get it.
Luu: Eat the food before you make a judgment. Ninsom: Be crazy about the food, put all your thought into the food. Anybody could be the next famous person, but it’s the food.
What this conversation will look like five years from now... Zukin: In five years, we might be in the middle of a recession, and concerned about all the restaurants that are closed, and that none of the cooks have jobs anymore. Those are real issues. Cultural appropriation is an issue that you can talk about only when you have enough money and time and a good job to talk about it. Hwang: Five years ago, we were still waking up from our hangover that was Old Portland. Now it’s completely unrecognizable when you drive down Division. So in five years, do I think it’ll be a little different? I think some other incident will happen that’ll either push us in the right direction—like this conversation—or it’ll push us in the wrong direction, so that now we’re only making money and fighting over the color of our skin.
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JOHN GILHOOLEY
You can’t cook that!
Let White People Appropriate Mexican Food—Mexicans Do It to Ourselves All the Time GUSTAVO ARELLANO, AUTHOR AND EDITOR OF OC WEEKLY, TALKS THE KOOKS CONTROVERSY. BY G U STAVO A R E L L A N O
@gustavoarellano
My thoughts on cultural appropriation of food changed forever in the research for my 2012 book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. One of my personal highlights was discovering the restaurant that Glenn Bell of Taco Bell infamy had cited in his autobiography as being the source of “inspiration” for him deciding to get into the taco business. How did he get inspired? He’d eat tacos at the restaurant every night, then go across the street to his hot dog stand to try and re-create them. Bell freely admitted to the story, but never revealed the name of the restaurant. I did: Mitla Cafe in San Bernardino, which is the oldest continuously operating Mexican restaurant in the Inland Empire. I was excited to interview the owner, Irene Montaño, who confirmed Bell’s story. I was upset for the Montaños, and when I asked Montaño how she felt that Bell had ripped off her family’s recipes to create a multibillion-dollar empire, I expected bitterness, anger, maybe even plans for a lawsuit in an attempt to get at least some of the billions of dollars that Taco Bell has earned over the past 50-plus years. Instead, Montaño responded with grace: “Good for him!” She pointed out that Mitla had never suffered a drop in business because of Taco Bell, that her restaurant had been in business longer than his and “our tacos were better.” It’s an anecdote I always keep in mind whenever stories of cultural appropriation of food by white people get the Left riled up and rock the food world. The latest skirmish is going on in Portland, where two women decided to open up what Willamette Week called “a concept that fits twee Portland”: a breakfast burrito pop-up located within a hipster taco cart. The grand sin the gabachas committed, according to the haters, was the admission that they quizzed women in Baja California about how to make the perfect flour tortilla. For their enthusiasm, the women have received all sorts of shade and have closed down their pop-up. To which I say: laughable. The gabachas knew exactly what they were doing, so didn’t they stand by it? Real gumption there, pendejas. But also laughable is the idea that white people aren’t supposed to—pick your word—rip off or appropriate or get “inspired” by Mexican food, that comida mexicana is a sacrosanct tradition only Mexicans and the white girls we marry can participate in. That cultural appropriation is a one-way street where the evil gabacha steals from the poor, pathetic Mexicans yet again. As we say in Mexico: No se hagan. What these culture warriors who proclaim to defend Mexicans don’t realize is that we’re talking about the food industry, one of the most rapacious businesses ever created. It’s the human condition at its most Darwinian, where everyone rips everyone off. The only limit to an entrepreneur’s chicanery isn’t resources, race or class status, but
GUSTAVO ARELLANO
how fast can you rip someone off, how smart you can be to spot trends years before anyone else, and how much money you can make before you have to rip off another idea again. And no one rips off food like Mexicans. The Mexican restaurant world is a delicious defense of cultural appropriation—that’s what the culinary manifestation of mestizaje is, ain’t it? The Spaniards didn’t know how to make corn tortillas in the North, so they decided to make them from flour. Mexicans didn’t care much for Spanish dessert breads, so we ripped off most pan dulces from the French (not to mention waltzes and mariachi). We didn’t care much for wine, so we embraced the beers
WE’RE NO ONE’S VICTIMS, AND WHO SAYS WE CAN’T BEAT THE WASICHU AT THEIR GAME? that German, Czech and Polish immigrants brought to Mexico. And what is al pastor if not Mexicans taking shawarma from the Lebanese, adding pork and making it something as quintessentially Mexican as a corrupt PRI? Don’t cry for ripped-off Mexican chefs—they’re too busy ripping each other off. Another anecdote I remember from Taco USA: one of the lieutenants of El Torito founder Larry Cano telling me Larry would pay them to work at a restaurant for a month, learn the recipes, then come back to the mothership so they could replicate it. It ain’t just chains, though: In the past year, I’ve seen dozens of restaurants and loncheras across Southern California offer the Zacatecan specialty birria de res, a dish that was almost exclusively limited to quinceañeras and weddings just three years ago. What changed? The popularity of Burritos La Palma, the
Santa Ana lonchera-turned-restaurant. Paisa entrepreneurs quickly learned that Burritos La Palma was getting a chingo of publicity and customers, so they decided to make birria de res on their own to try and steal away customers even though nearly none of them are from Zacatecas. Shameless? Absolutely. And that’s what cultural appropriation in the food world boils down to: It’s smart business, and that’s why Mexicans do it, too. That’s why a lot of high-end Mexican restaurants not owned by Sinaloans serve aguachile now, because Carlos Salgado of Taco Maria made it popular. That’s why workingclass Mexicans open marisco palaces even if they’re not from the coast—because Sinaloans made Mexican seafood a lucrative scene. That’s why nearly every lonchera in Santa Ana serves picaditas, a Veracruzan specialty, even though most owners are from Cuernavaca. That’s why a taqueria will sell hamburgers and french fries—because they know the pocho kids of its core clients want to eat that instead of tacos. And that’s why bacon-wrapped hot dogs are so popular in Southern California—because SoCal Mexican streetcart vendors ripped off Mexicans in Tijuana, who ripped off Mexicans in Tucson, who ripped off Mexicans in Sonora. To suggest—as SJWs always do—that Mexicans and other minority entrepreneurs can’t possibly engage in cultural appropriation because they’re people of color, and that we’re always the victims, is ignorant and patronizing and robs us of agency. We’re no one’s victims, and who says we can’t beat the wasichu at their game? And who says Mexicans are somehow left in the poorhouse by white people getting rich off Mexican food? Go ask the Montaños of Mitla how they’re doing. Last year, they reopened a long-shuttered banquet hall, and the next generation is introducing new meals and craft beers. They cried about Bell’s appropriation of their tacos all the way to the history books. This story originally appeared in OC Weekly. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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Street
“Bangkok, Thailand. I moved here for higher education.”
“Brooklyn. I moved here for my music.”
“I’m from here. I stayed here because it’s awesome.”
“Camas. I moved here for the music scene. I’m in a band called Plastic Weather.”
WHERE ARE YOU FROM? OUR FAVORITE LOOKS THIS WEEK. PHOTOS BY CHR ISTIN E DON G
“Portland. I stayed because someone’s gotta be from this damn town.”
“We’re both from Beaverton. (Right) I live in Seattle now, and she is in Eugene studying. We’re here visiting.”
“Sandy, Ore. I moved to Portland to be closer to family and for the Salt and Straw.”
TR EAT F L E S ’ YO
“We’re from Santa Fe, N.M. (Right) I’m here for school, and she’s here visiting me.”
Moving across the country was not easy, but NancyMarie kept our confidence up in a highly competitive market. She helped find our perfect home, and treated us as family instead of just clients. Thank you, Nancy! - Jon, Carrie & Sydney Actual Scout Realty Co. clients
NANCYMARIE HENDRICKS, Broker 503.381.5587 nancymarie@scoutportland.com
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SCOUTPORTLAND.COM
The Bump 45. David E. Jeremiah (1990) Local Navy admiral and investment banker.
46. Peter Jacobsen (1996)
68. Seven Portland Police Officers (1998)
47. Brian Grant (2010)
Totally different from the hundreds of police on the parade route.
48. Brett and Cameron Byrd (2000) Musicians raising money for cancer research.
49. Guy “Zorro” Williams (1958, actor) JESS MINCKLEY
Racist stereotype that made America love renegade Mexicans, but was also stylish.
50. Jack “Cisco Kid” Mather (1952, radio actor)
Racist stereotype that made America love renegade Mexicans, but was not stylish.
51. Judy Bochenski (1971)
RANKING EVERY KNOWN GRAND MARSHAL OF THE ROSE FESTIVAL’S GRAND FLORAL PARADE BETWEEN 1920 AND 2017. BY M AT T H E W KO R F H AGE mkorfhage@wweek.com
1. Packy the Elephant (2012) Like the flowers he represented, he died too soon in the winter.
2. Leonard Nimoy (1967) It is hard to love many people who are not, in fact, Leonard Nimoy.
3. Hank Aaron (1979) Yes, that Hank Aaron.
4. Dorothy Ann Hobson (1941) At age 9, founded Oregon’s Valsetz Star newspaper. Subscribers included Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and Shirley Temple.
5. Representatives of 9 Sovereign Native American Tribes (1994) Better late than never?
6. Mark O. Hatfield (1997) “The last decent Republican.”
7. Gerry Frank (2013) If you hate Gerry Frank, you hate Oregon.
8. Will Vinton (1989) Animator and creator of California Raisins.
9. Don Schollander (1965)
11. Lorne Greene (1961)
23. Chief Leon Jenkins (1930-31)
33. Merv Griffin (1981)
World’s best Canadian eyebrows.
By all accounts one hell of a police chief, and first in the U.S. to use a newfangled “police radio.”
He made Jeopardy!!
12. Roy Rogers (1954) Fake cowboy.
13. Dr. Brian Druker (2002)
24. Peter DeFazio (2003)
34. James DePreist (1995) Conductor of The Oregon Symphony.
The director of the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU.
Apparently the hicks in Florence protested this U.S. representative’s appointment.
35. Vice Adm. Ruthven E. Libby (1959)
14. Kiki Cutter (1969)
25. Blue Angels (1988)
36. John Swigert (1970)
Olympic skier.
Grand marshals in the sky.
15. Stewart H. Holbrook (1964)
26. University of Portland women’s soccer team (2003)
Portland historian.
Champions.
16. 35 Rose Festival Queens (1983) All the queens.
27. Portland Timbers (2016) Champions.
17. Terry Baker (1963) This Beaver was the first West Coaster to hoist the Heisman trophy.
18. Barge E. Leonard (1921)
Founder of Multnomah Hotel, host to every president from Teddy Roosevelt to Nixon.
29. Ahmad and Phylicia Rashad (1993)
19. Brandon Roy (2008)
Did you know that sportscaster Ahmad Rashad was from Portland?
20. Vera Katz (2005) Are we nostalgic for git-’er-done Vera and her vast municipal projects? Maybe a little.
21. Colonel James J. Crossley (1924)
Four golds at the Tokyo Olympics.
Founded the Portland American Legion that recently went renegade.
10. Victor McLaglen (1937)
22. Bill Schonely (2004)
The most interesting man in the world: actor, rogue, gold panner, vaudevillian, prizefighter, stunt cyclist, rumored fascist.
The Blazers announcer is almost as hammy as an entire parade.
Apollo 13 astronaut who survived an explosion in space.
37. Michael Curry (2001) World-renowned Scappoose puppeteer.
38. Doc Severinsen (1978) Blowhard from The Tonight Show.
28. Eric V. Hauser (1926)
WWI volunteer, lawyer, Scottish Freemason, eligible bachelor.
Former Blazer, future gunshot victim/hero.
Local war hero.
30. Frances Hulse Boly (1968) The Rose Festival Queen from 1938 is still kickin’ at age 97.
31. Mitch Miller (1981) The oboist who discovered Aretha Franklin.
32. Walter Brennan (1973) Brennan has as many Oscars as Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson.
40. Al Unser, Jr. (1984)
43. Debbie McDougald and Justin Johnson (1992) Special Olympics winners.
44. Five Desert Storm Veterans (1991) Back when Iraq wars actually ended.
Symbol of misguided intellectual property law.
71. Govs. Barbara Roberts and Kate Brown (2015) Don’t hand out prizes at the beginning of a term. For all we know, Kate will find a way to sell the Rose Parade off to pay the state debt.
73. Maj. Gen. William S. Stone (1957)
Anti-littering guy.
Cross-marketing opportunity featuring the chairman of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses.
Glorified weatherman.
53. William “Hopalong Cassidy” Boyd and horse Topper (1951)
74. Carrie Lee Chamberlain (1962)
Off-brand Roy Rogers and Trigger.
Governor’s daughter, first Rose Festival Queen by nepotism.
54. Edward Everett Horton (1939)
75. John Bonner (1949)
Eventual voice of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
One-term Montana governor.
76. Charles E. Minsinger (1922)
55. Portland volunteer representatives (1999)
Sand baron, heir to the fortune of Pittsburgh’s Star Sand Co.
A resident of Northeast Portland, a grade school student and a police officer.
56. Tommy Gibbons (1946) Hell of a boxer, but from Minnesota.
57. Burl Ives (1975) Sam the Snowman, from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, in the fleshy goateed flesh.
77. A. Craig McMicken (1932-34) PGE bought the grand marshal slot to honor its top salesman for three years.
78. Lt. Gen. Hunter Liggett (1927) “War hero” and nationalist asshole of great integrity.
79. Brig. Gen. James H. Reeves (1929) War hero, rough rider.
58. David Rose (1966) Wrote the Bonanza theme song.
80. Brig. Gen. Paul Wolf (1930) War hero.
59. Cliff Robertson (1986) Played Charly in Charly.
81. Kay Kyser (1947) Off-brand Benny Goodman.
60. Montie Montana (1955) Trick roper.
82. One More Time Around Again Marching Band (2014)
61. Jack McKinney (1977)
Very meta: the marching band in the parade is also the grand marshal of its own parade.
An assistant coach for the Blazers.
83. Snow White (1987)
Played Mingo in TV’s Daniel Boone.
French race-car driver.
Paladin of Have Gun, Will Travel and scary-looking motherfucker.
70. Mickey Mouse (1985)
52. Jack McGowan (2009)
62. Ed Ames (1972)
42. Richard Boone (1960)
From TV’s Mickey Mouse Club.
72. Harold C. Schaffer (1948)
Race-car driver.
41. Sebastien Bourdais (2007)
69. Jimmy Dodd and Uncle Bob Amsberry (1956)
Eugene-bred member of the national table tennis team during a time when the Cold War was being fought on ping-pong tables.
39. 1977 Portland Trail Blazers (2017) Seems a bit late for the honor?
Top salesman at Howard Automobile.
Local golf hero.
Former Blazer and founder of Parkinson’s Disease foundation.
Grand, Grander, Grandest
67. Frank V. Smith (1920)
63. Pat Boone (1976) Pretended to be Daniel Boone’s grandson.
64. Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth (1974)
Two years after Mickey Mouse, a fictional princess.
84. “The community of Portland” (2007) Presumably there was a behindthe-scenes power struggle.
Cast of TV’s Emergency!
85. Douglas McKay (1950 and 1953)
65. The Oregon Ducks (2011)
Supported “Indian Termination.”
Rumor has it Ezekiel Elliott politely declined.
66. Col. Pegram Whitworth (1922)
86. Neil Goldschmidt (1980) Rapist.
A war hero who liked to scare ladies by shooting turkeys.
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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STARTERS
K AT U
B I T E - S I Z E D P O RT L A N D C U LT U R E N E W S
MICAH ON THE MIC: A little over a month after suffering stab wounds to the neck, Micah Fletcher, the survivor of the May 26 MAX train stabbings, will return to his roots as a performer and artist, according to the organizer of a hip-hop skills competition scheduled to take place at the end of the month. Fletcher, along with 36 other upstart rappers, will participate in the Verbal Vanguard Awards, a local hip-hop showcase and contest set for June 30 at Artists Repertory Theatre. Event promoter Solomon Starr says he first met Fletcher a year ago while working on a concert and video series focused on Portland rap. Fletcher signed up for the event, which will put competitors through a series of lyrical challenges, prior to the MAX incident, but Starr says he is still committed to participating. Meanwhile, a host of local rappers, including Cool Nutz, Mic Capes and Libretto, will perform at a benefit concert for the victims of the attack June 16 at Roseland Theater. REALLY WILD: Hillary Clinton didn’t put much focus on Oregon on her 2016 presidential campaign trail, but she apparently now has her eye on hiking here. Last week, Cheryl Strayed, who hiked 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995 on a spirit quest that later became the subject of her popular memoir Wild, interviewed Clinton at the Book Expo of America. Strayed suggested Clinton name her upcoming book of essays Really Wild, and joked that they should promote the book along the PCT. Clinton, who has been hiking a lot since failing to win the presidency, told Strayed she’d “love” to hike the trail with her. BLAZE SOME: Sunday, June 4, was a tense day. Just over a week since the slaying of two men by a white supremacist on the MAX, two opposing rallies scheduled to take place downtown Sunday afternoon had the city braced for the potential of more violence. But at least one Portlander did his part to, in his words, “keep Portland fucking chill.” Local historian Doug Kenck-Crispin—host of the Kick-Ass Oregon History podcast—spent the protests handing out tins of free, homegrown weed from his backyard in North Portland. The tins were decorated in honor of the city’s most beloved marijuana aficionados, the “Jail Blazers” of the early 2000s, with quotes taken from a November 2002 police report detailing a traffic stop involving Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire, such as, “There ain’t no more. We smoked it all!” Crispin, who also handed out joints at the Women’s March in January, tells WW he plans to continue his weed giveaways at future protests. OPENERS: It’s been a busy summer for restaurant openings. Last week, Can Font, an offshoot of the Michelin-starred Barcelona restaurant, opened in the Pearl. The intimate and stylish 60-seat dining room is a lot smaller than the 700-seat original. On May 31, attached to downtown’s new Hi-Lo hotel, chef Chip Barnes has opened a new modern Mexican restaurant, Alto Bajo, with help from famed Oaxacan chef Iliana de la Vega. Chef Vitaly Paley closed Portland Penny Diner downtown on May 26 and will re-open this month as a pizza spot called The Crown by Imperial. In other pizza news, Southeast Division Street now has a vegan answer to Lovely’s 50/50, a pie and cone spot called Virtuous Pie that started in Vancouver, B.C. Virtuous will also offer a plant-based alternative to Pine Street Biscuits next door, partnering with Heart to serve coffee drinks made with house-made hemp milk. 26
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7
Holocene Turns 14 Holocene opened in 2003 as Portland’s most cutting-edge music venue, and 14 years later, it remains a local hub for vanguard R&B, rap, rock and electronic acts. Tonight, the club is throwing itself a birthday bash with sounds well-suited for early summer, including cumbia orchestra Orquestra Pacifico Tropical and DJs from the Latin-focused monthly act Gran Ritmos, plus a “virtual reality spa.” Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 9 pm. Free. 21+.
Corinne Bailey Rae An English Solange of sorts, singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae has been making earthy, eclectic soul for over a decade. Last year’s The Heart Speaks in Whispers—her —her first full-length in six years—bounds from coffeehouse R&B to light-handed funk, all tied together by her enchanting, cloudlike voice. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686, wonderballroom.com. 7 pm. $29.50. All ages.
THURSDAY, JUNE 8
Portland Pickles' Twin Peaks Night As if Lents’ twee little minor league baseball team couldn't get any more lovable, they’ll be cosplaying as the Twin Peaks Steeplejacks to celebrate the return of David Lynch’s cult-favorite sci-fi soap. Running the bases backward is likely against the rules, but $2 domestic beers and hot dogs will be on offer, so we’ll forgive them. Walker Stadium at Lents Park, 4601 SE 92nd Ave., 503-775-3080, portlandpicklesbaseball.com. 7:05 pm. $9-$10. All ages.
Portland Beer Week Kickoff Portland Beer Week launches with a beer, meat, cider, booze and cheesefueled rooftop party—including a summery, pleasant marionberry IPA from Culmination Brewing that's the official beer of Portland Beer Week, local liquor tastings, pork belly Hotlips pizza, doughnuts from Blue Star and countless free samples in an indoor market. Did we mention there's a rooftop? There's a rooftop. Exchange Ballroom., 123 NE 3rd Ave., 503-334-8624, pdxbeerweek.com. 4-10 pm. $10.
Get Busy
FRIDAY, JUNE 9
Fruit Beer Festival Fans of fruit have a lot to look forward to on the taps at this year’s Fruit Beer Fest, with 21 infused creations that include a tart strawberry and basil ale from Ruse, a special key lime pie beer from 10 Barrel and a blend of Upright’s black lime-infused Saison Vert that spent time in both gin and vermouth barrels— yowza. Burnside Brewing Company, 701 E Burnside St., fruitbeerfest.com. 4-9 pm. $20-$25 for 12-14 tastes. Through June 11.
FARNELL NEWTON
EVENTS WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT JUNE 7-13
SATURDAY, JUNE 10
The Big Lebowski Ride Since they torched the Dude’s car, this Pedalpalooza ride is guaranteed to have a lot of ins, a lot of outs and a lot of what-have-yous. Starts and ends at Colonel Summers, with re-creations of scenes from the Coens’ slacker classic in between. Be sure not to get your bathrobe tangled in your spokes. Colonel Summers Park, SE 20th and Belmont. Shift2bikes.org. 6:30 pm. Free. All ages.
Michael Ian Black Comedy doesn’t always age well. But despite starting his career on the cult-classic ’90s sketch show The State, Michael Ian Black’s material has held up reasonably well. Sure, he now talks about parenthood and politics, but his persona remains that of a self-absorbed man-child, which contributes just as much to his humor as the punchlines themselves. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm. $25. 21+.
Farnell Newton After delays caused by a fi re in the top fl oor apartments, new jazz club Jack London Revue has finally opened in the basement of downtown pool hall Rialto. While its calendar so far features several touring acts, it also makes plenty of room for local talent, including Jimmy Mak’s refugees like Mel Brown and ace trumpeter Farnell Newton, who tonight celebrates the release of his new album, Back to Earth. Jack London Revue, 529 SW 5th Ave. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
SUNDAY, JUNE 11 Future Kendrick Lamar ain’t walking through that door, but at least Atlanta’s reigning marble-mouthed trap king is coming within an hour’s drive of town. With Young Thug and A$AP Ferg in tow, this is easily the biggest hip-hop show of the season. Sunlight Supply Amphitheater, 17200 NE Delfel Road, Ridgefield, Wash., 360-816-7000, sunlightsupplyamphitheater.com. 7 pm. $24-$336. All ages. See Top 5, page 31.
MONDAY, JUNE 12
The Specials Before a bunch of dorks in shants and Hawaiian shirts besmirched its good name, ska was raw and gritty enough to exist under the same umbrella as ’70s Brit-punk, and no band connected the two with more style and energy than the Specials. Lots of core members have come and gone, but their 1979 self-titled album remains a not-fully-appreciated classic worth celebrating. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047, crystalballroompdx.com. 8 pm. $35 advance, $40 day of show. All ages.
TUESDAY, JUNE 13
Hurray for the Riff Raff At this point, the Hurray for the Riff Raff origin story is its own piece of folklore, a tale about a Puerto Rican punk who rode the rails from New York to New Orleans and emerged as a new breed of folk troubadour. With The Navigator, leader Alynda Lee Segarra dramatizes her biography into a concept album worthy of Ziggy Stardust while also broadening her musical horizons, creating the most expansive, detailed and rocking record she’s put out to date. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. #110, 503-2883895, revolutionhall.com. 8 pm. $21 advance, $23 day of show. All ages.
The Dope Show Cannabis and comedy have always gone hand in hand. But the real kicker of this standup showcase, hosted by bud enthusiast Tyler Smith, will be the sets that take place after a brief toke-sesh intermission, at which point a coterie of comics who’ve never been stoned before will try to manage their high and get laughs at the same time. Whether you’ll be laughing with them or at them is a mystery, but it’ll be funny either way. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888-643-8669, portland.heliumcomedy.com. 7 pm. $15-$23. 21+.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off John Hughes’ classic of suburban goofballery, starring a young Matthew Broderick as the titular cool kid and Alan Ruck as the annoying nerd Cameron Frye, returns to the big screen, free, as part of the Clinton Street Theater’s ongoing Resistance series. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 503-238-5588, cstpdx.com. 7 pm.
Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland Neal Stephenson looks like Rasputin and works as a “futurist” for a virtual reality company, plus seems to be helping Jeff Bezos design a suborbital launch system. But in his spare time, the Snow Crash author writes novels—like The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., a collaboration with historical novelist Nicole Galland that promises to “question the very foundations of the modern world.” But mostly it’s about magic, and a device that can bring it back. Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 503-288-4651, powells.com. 7 pm. Free. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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FOOD & DRINK JULIE SHOWERS
ROUND-UP
The Tournament of Rosés
WE TASTED EVERY BUDGET ROSÉ AT TRADER JOE’S. BY S OPH I A J U N E
SJUNE@WWEEK.COM
If I plunk down $8 for a bottle of wine, it’s probably a special occasion. Thankfully, there is a place for people like me. This place is called Trader Joe’s. WW’s usual wine coverage comes from highly knowledgeable writers—people who drink pét-nat like I eat Cheetos. It’s not as important for pink wines to be fancy. At least, that’s what Katherine Cole says. The former Oregonian wine critic and author makes the case in her brand new book Rosé All Day: The Essential Guide to Your New Favorite Wine. “Rosé is really not that serious,” she says. “Even the most serious rosé— it’s all about pleasure and enjoying yourself.” On June 7, Tusk, recently named the best new restaurant in America by Food & Wine magazine, will be hosting a rosé soirée wine dinner ($60), which will be full of high-end pinks. If you’re like me, that’s outside your price range. So I headed to Trader Joe’s for rosés that cost $10 or less, which my friends and I blind-tasted while camping near Timothy Lake.
1. WINNER:
VINTJS MONTEREY PINOT NOIR ROSÉ $6.99
2. J.L. QUINSON CÔTES DE PROVENCE ROSÉ $7.99
Score: 81 Comments: “Restful.” “Tutti frutti.” “Sharp, crispy, makes you go, ‘AHH!’” If you’re heading to the river or an afternoon party, this is the wine to pick up. VINTJS is Trader Joe’s house brand, which means who actually makes it is kept a secret—for all we know it could be Chateau Margaux. If you’re buying cheap wine, Cole says she looks for acidity, some spritz and a low ABV. “When there’s that prickle on your tongue like you’re drinking sparkling water, there’s a little C02 captured in the wine, she’s says, which is a good thing. Tasters picked up on that spritz, describing the wine as “sharp” and “crispy.” “Low alcohol is a plus when you’re in that lower price range because it’s something nice and light and balanced,” Cole says. Just make sure to follow Cole’s cardinal rule of cheap rosé: “Dunk it in an ice bucket and get it as cold as you can.”
I
Score: 80 Comments: Most drinkable “Too tart for this guy.” “Fancy juice.” “MEH.” “Buttery, country club vibes.” If you’re showing up to a dinner party, this is the wine to bring. Scoring only one point lower than our winner, J.L. Quinson comes from the Beaujolais region of France, and in a sexy, very Instagrammable bottle that emits a sweet strawberry smell when uncorked. It’s dry, and goes down a little too easily. Plus, if you’re attracted to that curvy bottle, that’s a reason in itself to pick it up, Cole says. “With rosé, more than any other style of wine, it is totally okay to choose it by its color like how the color strikes you and by the label,” she says.
3. MULDERBOSCH ROSÉ $9.99 Score: 69.4 Comments: “Bad hangover in the morning,” “Sweet. Cold. Skeptical about hangover level tomorrow.” “Sweet aftertaste. Tastes like a patio in July.” “Salty.”
When your third pick is the equivalent of a D, you grade on a curve. Mulderbosch is from South Africa, and our tasters pretty much concluded that it would probably give you a terrible hangover. We did not drink enough to know if that’s the case. Like everything that may give you a terrible hangover, it goes down easy, making it one of the best wines to sip on a patio as day turns to night. Drinkability is a major quality to look for in cheap wines, Cole says: “If it tastes like Sprite, that’s all you need at that cost.”
Cheap wines are more susceptible to tasting sulphury, says Cole. “That can be for different reasons, but you’re looking for a clean aroma,” she says. “Just keep it simple.” We experienced this with this fishy Spongebob wine, which comes not from Bikini Bottom, but from a family-owned winery in Tuscany. Apparently, they do several cost-cutting operations on their own, such as creating their own labels, which is why TJs can sell it for five bucks. Still, some tasters enjoyed the wine, which they wrote had a nice sharpness and a pinot gris-like taste.
4. JOSEFINA SYRAH ROSÉ $4.99
7. CARAYON LA ROSÉ $4.99
Score: 65 Comments: “Refreshing, but missing something important.” “Sour. I like it but I wouldn’t admit it.” “Like a liquid Red Vine.” “Took off my buzz.”
Score: 59.6 Comments: “Was I drinking WATER?” “Something you would drink if you had no friends.” “Fizzy but not in a fun way.” “Not summer.”
This syrah rosé from Paso Robles was described by an LA Times food critic in 2012 as “metallic,” before she threw out the whole bottle. Our writers found it to be missing something important. Sometimes, paying an extra buck makes all the difference. The syrah rosé was the darkest of the lot, which Cole says is perfect for a summer barbeque. Cole advises to select colors you’re drawn to, and pair these with your food accordingly.
Coming from the South of France, Carayona La Rosé looks killer on a table, especially as one of the most truly-pink colors, but it proved a little lackluster to our tasters. At 13% ABV, it’s a little high for a cheap rosé, which could be the reason for the lack of balance.
5. LANDONNET BORDEAUX ROSÉ $5.99 Score: 63.8 Comments: “Boring.” “Could finish a bottle with a friend.” “Not summer.” “Could use more sparkle crisp.” From Bordeaux, Landonnet was our middle-of-the-road pick. It’s a nice candycolor pink.
6. GRIFONE ROSÉ #8 $4.99 Score: 62.4 Comments: “Fishy.” “FISH TASTE.” “Dry, like retiring in Tucson.” “Tastes like a pinot gris.”
8. BARNARD GRIFFIN ROSÉ $8.99 Score: 55 Comments: “Makes me bitter because a touch of a bitter aftertaste!!!!!” “It will get you drunk.” “‘Syrupy’ notes of Robitussin.” “Medicine? Kool-aid-like.” The only localish wine on the list, Barnard Griffin comes from Southeast Washington. When you buy the bottle from the site, it’s $14, but somehow, Trader Joe’s is selling it for TK. In 2015, this wine won an award from the San Francisco Chronicle, so it’s a possibility we could’ve gotten a bad vintage.
9. ESPIRAL VINHO ROSÉ $4.99 Score: 49.1 Comments: “Strawberry soda and so fucking good.” “Chugged it and liked
it.” “Twizzlers...why?” “Freshman-year dorm party.” This Portuguese wine is described as fruity but not sweet. Our tasters disagreed. Several tasters noted it would be good for a party and to simply get drunk on, which Cole affirms is a good thing to do with cheap rosés. “Just choose a rosé that makes you smile, because that’s what it should be there for,” she says. “Pick a rosé you want to bring to your friends.”
10. ALBERO SPANISH ROSÉ $5.99 Score: 45.7 Comments: “Smells tasty AF (but wasn’t).” “Forever 21 flavored.” “Basically water with sour kombucha. Don’t drink too much at once.” “Otter pop water. Would not even drink to get fucked up.” When 24-year-olds say they wouldn’t drink something to even get fucked up, you know it’s bad. Albero was the first Spanish winery to receive organic certification in the U.S., and somehow, TJs sells it exclusively. How do they do it? And why did it suck so much? Made with Spanish Bobal dark-skinned grapes, it’s darker than other rosés, which could explain the heavy sweetness.
11. LA GRANJA $4.50 Score: 36.8 Comments: “Sweet all the way down.” “Fermented Twizzlers.” “Like $1 flavored water.” The very worst rosé was La Granja, which costs $4.50 and has a flamingo on the front. Do not let the flamingo fool you into thinking this is anything but a children’s drink, which it probably is., as it tastes like flavored water, but not in a La Croix way. GO: Tusk’s Rosé Soirée is at 2448 E Burnside on Wednesday, June 7. 4-10 pm. $60, includes wine tastes and dinner buffet.
Simple ApproAch
Shandong www.shandongportland.com
Bold FlAvor vegan Friendly
open 11-10
everyday
Shandong www.shandongportland.com
500 NW 21st Ave, (503) 208-2173 kungpowpdx.com 28
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NINO ORTIZ
REVIEW
REPUBLICANS BUY STEAK, TOO: Inside ilani.
Michael Jordan’s Happy Place SHOE AND MEME MAGNET MICHAEL JORDAN LENDS HIS NAME TO A SOLID STEAKHOUSE IN THE NEW INDIAN CASINO. mcizmar@wweek.com
A lot of people have forgotten this, but before the greatest basketball player in the world wore number 23, there was another 23. Michael Jordan today is remembered mostly for his shoes and bawling like a baby in a popular meme, but he also has a chain of branded steakhouses—including one in Washington’s newest Indian casino, ilani. Jordan may not have the stats to back up a legitimate claim to being a better basketball player than LeBron James—Jordan currently has more rings than LeBron, and nearly as many rings as legends like Tom Heinsohn, Satch Sanders and Jim Loscutoff—but there’s no question he’s the greatest sports merchandiser ever, with an iconic line of sneakers and streetwear. For anyone who loves his shoes, or appreciates this man’s accomplishments alongside Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, it’s well worth making the 35-minute drive from Portland to Ridgefield, where his steakhouse anchors the food offerings at this shiny-new 368,000-square-foot complex, which also includes i.talia pizza kiosk and Smashburger. What’s Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse like? Well, if you’ve ever been to a celebrity-branded steakhouse, it’s like that. Think pleasantly decadent if also a little too spendy and Parade of Homes-y. Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse practices what it calls “steaksmanship” which: “[S]mells like steak. Sizzles like steak. It’s even as prime as steak.” In other words, like steak—but also “much more than steak.” The steaksmanship motif starts with the decor, as the restaurant is adorned with photographs memorializing a career that’s undeniably respectable, even next to that of Bill Russell or LeBron James. The servers wear black polo
shirts emblazoned with a small Jumpman logo. Besides the photos, the walls bear massive cases of wine, much of it available by the glass including a $10 budget prosecco, a $12 Brooks Rosé and an $18 Adelsheim Pinot, none listed by vintage. The drink list is tucked into a plastic sheet protector and also includes an $8 pint of Mac & Jack’s African Amber, a $6 bottle of “Bud Light Pale Lager” and a very stiff rye Manhattan with rhubarb bitters for $12. NINO ORTIZ
BY M A RT I N C I Z M A R
STEAKSMANSHIP: MJ’s Delmonico.
Befitting the casino setting—some might argue it’s a little too on-the-nose given Jordan’s well-documented gambling problem, long rumored to have led to a shadow suspension that pushed him out of the league for the year he played minor league baseball—there’s a touch of decadence to pretty much everything on the menu. The garlic bread is served with a blue cheese fondue for $9, and the bacon comes “double-smoked.” We enjoyed the tuna crudo ($20), which would have benefited from being served dressed evenly in the unappetizing
smear of brown soy-garlic sauce beside it, and an excellent Caesar salad ($12) pleasantly larded with salty Parmesan. Because of travel time and budget—I-5 has been clogged since the casino opened, and we dropped $250 for one meal at MJ—we were only able to visit MJ once, instead of our typical threepeat of review visits. (We sent a different reporter to a complementary media preview.) Sadly, on this visit the kitchen was out of our preferred cut, a 24-ounce, wet-aged rib-eye ($55). We instead opted for the “MJ’s Delmonico” ($54), a 16-ounce boneless ribeye that was dry-aged for 45 days. It was, as advertised, well-marbled prime beef cooked a perfect medium—everything you ask for, plus an aggressive jus made with ginger and balsamic, which was poured tableside. We skipped the “add-ons,” which include a $5 blue cheese crust and a $21 butter-poached lobster tail, but added sides of richly milky macaroni and cheese topped with umamidense cheese crumbles ($11), and unfortunately soggy and overcooked roasted Brussels sprouts ($9). Our other entree, a small piece of honey-glazed salmon ($38) was upstaged by the included side, a super-buttery creamed corn peppered with bacon bits. For dessert, we passed up the 23-layer chocolate cake made in honor of the number worn by the greatest basketball player in history and also Michael Jordan, and instead opted for peanut butter pie and a Nutella brulée. The pie was the standout, a towering stack of rich, nutty nougat the size of a soda can standing atop a thin chocolate crust and topped with a froof of whipped cream and tiny chocolate globules. It was an impressive confection—aggressive, robust and yet with impressive fine-touch details. Truly, it was the LeBron James of desserts. GO: Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, inside ilani casino, 34003566 NW Pekin Ferry Road, Ridgefield, Wash., 360-7272140, mjshilani.com. 11 am-1 am daily. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC
Knowledge of Self
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, JUNE 7 A Birthday Celebration for Prince with Farnell Newton & the Othership Connection
[HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. NELSON] Prince would’ve turned 59 years old today, and while he’s not around to celebrate it, plenty of musicians in his debt are more than willing to honor the day for him. Among them is Portland trumpet ace Farnell Newton, who’ll not only lead a tribute set tonight with his soul-funk ensemble, the Othership Connection, but will serve as a backing band for a live karaoke session. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 503-231-9663. 9 pm. $10 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
difficult their tight and tidy electronic music is to properly classify, with 2012’s acclaimed Cold Spring Fault Less Youth rightfully shifting the onus of criticism from category to composition. Like James Blake, who’s featured in Mount Kimbie’s latest single, “We Go Home Together,” Maker and Campos favor the approach of filling space with the bare minimum amount of brilliant ideas required to give their tracks life and movement, yielding everything between ambient ear candy and dancefloor bangers that contain trace amounts of the early dubstep they abandoned once American producers hijacked the brand in the name of EDM. PETE COTTELL. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., 503-2484700. 8 pm. $18. 21+.
Holocene Turns 14: Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, 2Tabs (Gran Ritmos DJs), VNPRT
KRIST KRUEGER LIVES IN HIS OWN WORLD, AND THAT’S JUST HOW HE LIKES IT. BY MATTHEW SIN GER
CONT. on page 32
[DANCE PARTY] See Get Busy, page 27. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639. 9 pm. Free. 21+.
Mount Kimbie, Ash Koosha, Tirzah
TOP
FIVE OF FUTURE’S BEST DEEP CUTS
“Birds Take a Bath” feat. Jeezy and Young Scooter (2012)
Future teams up with street disciples Jeezy and Young Scooter for a conventionally anthemic record about cleaning their “product” for distribution. Early signs of Future’s hook mastery are here, heavy on the AutoTune and sung live from the traphouse.
“Coupe”
2 (2015) For the Adult Swim Singles series, Future is the superstar rapper in “Coupe,” where he details a night of cruising the streets, living recklessly and spending a fortune. “This my environment/You see this whip that I’m driving?/This my environment,” he brags over a banging 808 and starry synths.
“Jordan Diddy” feat. Gucci Mane
3 (2012) Like Future’s breakout singles “Tony Montana” and “Same Damn Time,” “Jordan Diddy” is another quirky cut with a repeated hook. Most hip-hop kids want to be like MJ or Puffy someday, but on this track, Future is already flexing his status.
“Gone to the Moon”
4 (2011) One of Future’s redeeming qualities is the many alter egos he channels in his songs. On “Gone to the Moon,” he’s the Astronaut Kid, resplendent in designer brands, and so drugged out that he’s on Pluto and isn’t coming down.
“Maison Margiela”
5 (2013) For producer Metro Boomin’s debut mixtape, 19 & Boomin, Future penned this appreciation for designer Martin Margiela’s luxury collection. It’s a dank and dizzying showcase of Fashion Killa Future at his most high. ERIC DIEP. SEE IT: Future plays Sunlight Supply Amphitheater, 17200 NE Delfel Road, Ridgefield, Wash., with Young Thug and A$AP Ferg, on Sunday, June 11. 7 pm. $24-$336. All ages.
COURTESY OF FREEBANDZ.COM
[POST-DUBSTEP] The U.K.-based production duo of Dom Maker and Kai Campos has long been proud of how
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C O U R T E S Y O F S E L F G R O U P. O R G
PROFILE
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. 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.
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At a young age, Krist Krueger learned a lesson that’s carried him throughout most of his life—that if you want to do something, best not put too much faith in the assistance of other people. “I took my first lessons for guitar when I was 9. My teacher was terrible—really impatient, really rude,” says the 36-yearold Portland musician from a table outside Vivace Coffee House on Northwest 23rd Avenue. “So my second lesson was to walk in and tell him that I quit.” He ended up teaching himself. Selfreliance has since become the dominant theme of Krueger’s creative life. Growing up in Fond du Lac, Wis, he couldn’t rely on the hippie couple that ran the town’s lone independent record store to supply the punk records he wanted, so he tracked them down on his own, through mail order and road trips to hipper cities like Madison and Milwaukee. And when he had trouble finding commit“I’ve seen a lot of people who say, ted bandmates for his first serious project, ‘I’ll tour when I have a booking agent,’ or ‘I’ll he grabbed an acoustic guitar, jumped in a van and went on tour alone, doing his put out a record when I have a record label,’ own booking along the way. As his career and I’ve always looked at that and thought, has progressed, Krueger has made a point ‘What the fuck are you waiting for?’” of controlling just about every aspect of it, from recording to promotion. It’s not that he doesn’t want outside help. He just refuses to is sitting on his hands, waiting for everyone else to waste time waiting for it to come to him. “I’m not good at waiting on other people to catch up, well, he just doesn’t have the patience. “I’ve seen a lot of people who say, ‘I’ll tour make decisions,” he says. “My modus operandi has always been, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it. And when I have a booking agent,’ or ‘I’ll put out a if we’re not, then I’m going to do something else. record when I have a record label,’” he says, “and I’ve always looked at that and thought, ‘What the But something’s going to happen.” Since leaving Wisconsin for Portland in 2003, fuck are you waiting for?’” Gradually, though, Krueger has begun to open Krueger’s inability to sit still has allowed him to carve out a considerable niche for himself. He’s put out his sandbox to the outside world. The Self-Group dozens of recordings, mostly under the monikers now has a roster of acts who, like him, adhere Southerly and Yardsss, ranging in style from dark- more to principles than genre. (One such artist, hued folk to instrumental post-rock. Seven years Chicago-based electronic experimentalist Wrtch, ago, he started a label, the Self Group, initially as a celebrates her album release this week at Black repository for his own prodigious output, which also Water.) And he’s recently expanded his primary solo project, Yardsss, into a three-piece live band. includes film, literary and visual art components. He’s like an arts scene unto himself, which prob- Krueger remains strident in his independence, ably explains why Krueger has never fully integrated doing his own publicity and booking his own into the Portland music scene at large. Despite his tours. But the way he sees it, doing it yourself prolificacy, he’s received relatively scant coverage doesn’t always have to mean going it alone. “Even though DIY, by title and description, sugfrom the local press. None of his projects have placed on Willamette Week’s annual Best New Band poll, gests a lone wolf, it’s just as importantly and vitally and he’s never played PDX Pop Now. It’s certainly about community,” he says. “There is no lone straw not for a lack of quality: Eclectic as his body of work holding the cup. We do all of this together, celebrate is, Krueger’s songwriting talent travels well, and he’s our accomplishments together, celebrate one anothequally adept at expressing an idea through a handful er’s art and expression together—and, ultimately, our of chords and a melody as he is at using ambiance and unique yet unified journeys together.” texture when he’d rather not speak at all. Krueger admits that he occupies, in his words, SEE IT: Yardsss plays Black Water Bar, 835 NE Broadway, with wrtch and Coastal States, on “my own little sandbox.” But again, if the alternative Tuesday, June 13. 9 pm. $8. All ages. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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COURTESY OF RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT
MUSIC
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamila Woods
[R&B ECLECTICA] See Get Busy, page 27. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686. 7 pm. $29.50. All ages.
THURSDAY, JUNE 8 Marian Hill, Opia
[ELECTRO POP] Named after the characters Marian Paroo and Harold Hill in The Music Man, Philadelphia-based duo Marian Hill manage to make the saxophone sound even sexier, incorporating sultry brass seamlessly alongside electronic beats. Singer Samantha Gongol sways listeners with slow and sultry vocals that get chopped-and-screwed by producer Jeremy Lloyd. The band’s single, “Down,” was featured in an ad for Apple earphones, leading to it becoming the most-searched song on Shazam in the U.S. Their latest release, Act One, experiments with new, funkier arrangements, placing them on the same plane as contemporary pop duos dabbling in electronica, like Phantogram and Purity Ring. Marian Hill have yet to disappoint and are poised to continue releasing refreshingly original cuts. JASON SUSIM. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047. 8:30 pm. Sold out. All ages.
Zakk Sabbath, Beastmaker
[DOOM TRIBUTE] Now that Black Sabbath has retired, artists of all stripes are stretching to reevaluate one of rock’s greatest catalogs, and few are more equipped to do so than former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde. He retired from the Oz camp in order to focus on his band, Black Label Society, but as the name suggests, Zakk Sabbath is allSabbath (though a Soundgarden tune has been played in tribute on some recent dates). The best news is that this isn’t a greatest hits approach as much as an overturning of stones, with lesserknown leaves such as “A National Acrobat” and “Sabbra Cadabra” getting aired out after decades on the shelf. Fresno doom acolytes Beastmaker will be rumbling the building while you’re standing in line to get in. NATHAN CARSON. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd., 503-233-7100. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
FRIDAY, JUNE 9 Lita Ford, Vanity Kills, Breaker Breaker
[METAL GODDESS] Lita Ford had two musical heydays—one in the late ‘70s as lead guitarist of punk girl-group the Runaways, and another as a hard-rock guitar hero in the ‘80s. Things trailed off after that, and Ford concentrated more on acting and parenting. In 2016, she combed her archives
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and released the Time Capsule, a collection of vintage recordings. The dusted-off tracks reveal Ford’s strengths as a pop balladeer, but don’t shirk on the power chords. If anything, her sensibility clings closest to the clean, compressed arena styling of Scorpions, erring on the side of hooks and melody over sheer heaviness. NATHAN CARSON. Dante’s, 350 West Burnside St., 503-226-6630. 9 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show. 21+.
Tigers Jaw, Saintseneca, Smidley
[POST-FOLK] Early Tigers Jaw releases blatantly evoked imagery of scruffy punk kids crammed into a basement singing along in hushed tones, but those days are long behind the current iteration of this recently rebooted poppunk troupe from Scranton, Penn. With vocal duties shifted to guitarist Ben Walsh, this year’s Spin is a pleasant surprise in spite of its betrayal to the group’s crusty DIY kid roots, with a lighter, more indie-adjacent sound carrying the tunes when the classic shortcuts of volume and attitude fail to do all the heavy lifting. It’s more like punk rock Real Estate than plugged-in Andrew Jackson Jihad this time around, but as long as the former members don’t sue to get the band’s name back, it’s smooth sailing from here on out. PETE COTTELL. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd., 503-233-7100. 8 pm. $16. All ages.
Sunset Series: Avi Buffalo, Andrea Silva
[BEACH-BUM INDIE] Avi Buffalo turned a lot of heads back in 2010 when he released “What’s In It For?” The Southern California singer-songwriter caught Sub Pop’s eye and toured extensively, but ultimately only released one additional album on the iconic Seattle label. To be fair, the guy’s had his hands full producing and collaborating with bands like Litronix. Fortunately, Avi Buffalo is working on his third full-length all by his lonesome, reminding us of his gift for creating wavy, indie beach rock. Part formative country rock, part dreamy explorative pop in the vein of Youth Lagoon, the music of Avi Buffalo is worth the wait—especially tonight as he plays the stunning roof of Rev Hall. MARK STOCK. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St #110, 503288-3895. 7 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
Daniel Lanois & Rocco DeLuca
[ESSENTIAL EXPERIMENTS] Depending on your age, Quebecois guitar wizard Daniel Lanois is familiar either for his work alongside Explosions in the Sky on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack or his engineering work alongside Brian Eno on U2’s The Joshua Tree. It’s a beautiful thing when the work of his fingers and his mind collide, and last year’s Goodbye to Language is an
undeniable document of Lanois’ imaginative approach to richly layered six-string bliss. Joining him is the album’s co-conspirator, blues guitarist Rocco DeLuca, whose flourishes of slide guitar and ethereal swells will receive live doctoring at the hands of Lanois for a spacey experience that’s destined to be one of a kind. PETE COTTELL. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 503222-2031. 8 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show. All ages.
Radioactivity, Bad Sports, Macho Boys, Ditched
[POP PUNK] Jeff Burke still plays the occasional show with the Marked Men, and lately he’s been exploring his softer side with Lost Balloons, but Radioactivity has been the pop-punk godhead’s primary musical concern for the past few years. On 2013’s selftitled debut and 2015’s Silent Kill, the Denton-based songwriter took his instantly identifiable sound— think “Get Over You” by the Undertones getting a makeover from someone who grew up on budget rock—and foregrounded the vulnerability and sadness that powered his previous work. There is still plenty of exhilarating quickness in Radioactivity’s attack, but the thrills are haunted by a dolor that never quite lifts. Long may it linger. CHRIS STAMM. Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-238-0543. 8 pm. $10. 21+.
SATURDAY, JUNE 10 John Mellencamp, Jewel, Carlene Carter
[HEARTLAND ROCK] The most popular thing John Mellencamp has ever produced is a three-chord song featuring the lyrics “suckin’ on a chili dog outside the Tastee
Freeze.” But if you can accept ol’ John Cougar’s brand of smalltown, working-class Americana for what it is, something almost magically pure is revealed. And, while we can’t expect anything groundbreaking from Mellencamp, his newest release, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, takes on a folksy acoustic feel that better suits Mellencamp’s down-home simplicity than any instrumentation he’s tried thus far. Smartly featuring vocalists Martina McBride and Carlene Carter, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies embraces a complexity that was never Mellencamp’s game—and, though the line between minimal traditionalism and outright silliness is a fine one here, perhaps those having trouble enjoying Mellencamp’s music are just taking it way too seriously. Haters, roll your window down on a sunny day, put on “Small Town,” and then get back to me. ISABEL ZACHARIAS. Edgefield Amphitheater, 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, 503-669-8610. 6 pm. $70.50-$140.50. All ages.
Xasthur, Johanna Warren, Erin Jane LaRoue, Canadensis
[BLACK METAL UNPLUGGED] Let’s face it: Black metal isn’t for everyone. Even at its best, doomand-gloom set to massive walls of sound can get lost in itself, forgetting to come up for air in the pophook-dominated musical world most of us live in. This problem was never lost on Scott Conner, better known in some circles by stage name Malefic, who retired his black metal project Xasthur in 2010 and set off on a new musical path. Having already started shifting Xasthur toward more ambient, less guitar-driven sounds, Conner resurrected the name in 2015 with music that almost escapes description, but could be called “metal-adja-
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SARRAH DANZINGER
PREVIEW
Hurray for the Riff Raff [HOMEGROWN ALT FOLK] Picture a folk singer. Likely, they aren’t sporting thigh-high socks, a massive bouffant or knuckle tattoos. But then, Alynda Segarra, the singer-songwriting master behind alt-roots outfit Hurray for the Riff Raff, is far from a standard folk musician. She sings heartbreakingly sparse, tender renditions of classic folk tunes like “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” but also boasts a raspy version of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” that emotes so naturally, it ruins the listener for Lennon’s comparatively whiny version. And this says nothing of Segarra’s own songwriting. Homegrown in aesthetic but theatrical in storytelling scale, Hurray for the Riff Raff shines most when Segarra’s vocals cut loose, wavering freely with vibrato and sometimes even breaking into sing-speak conversations with her audience, spinning stories about city living. On new LP The Navigator, Segarra takes on a Ziggy Stardust-esque alter ego, dramatizing the events of her own life and focusing especially on the cast of characters. Some of them are lonely, some clever, some conniving, but all are sad and unsatisfied in their own way—and all are treated with the same rough-edged, whole-picture realism Segarra infuses into the music. ISABEL ZACHARIAS. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. #110, 503-2883895. 7 pm Tuesday, June 13. $21 advance, $23 day of show. All ages. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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THE PARSON RED HEADS FRIDAY, JUNE 9 AT 6PM Blurred Harmony is the 4th studio full-length album from Portland-based indie psych-folk stalwarts, The Parson Red Heads. As the band’s frontman, Evan Way puts it, “This record is more a true part of us than any record we have made before.”
TOM GRANT SATURDAY, JUNE 10 AT 3PM One of the pioneers of the smooth jazz genre, pianist Tom Grant, releases his second foray into the new age music genre with Sipping Beauty, a beguiling mixture of instrumentals, highlighted by warm, flowing melodies, gentle rhythms, and an overall sensation of calm and serenity.
CEDAR TEETH
SUNDAY, JUNE 11 AT 5PM For those old enough, upon first hearing Cedar Teeth, it is difficult not to hear Levon Helm, Rick Danko and company, The Band, hollering from the grave. Indeed, imagery reflecting organic flesh and bone, mingling with gnarled old-growth roots music, is what this band is all about.
MOODY LITTLE SISTER MONDAY, JUNE 12 AT 7PM
A prolific writer with a unique style and vocal signature, Naomi recalls 70’s folk legends from Jim Croce to Carole King but is informed by the modern vocal prowess of Adele or Annie Lennox. A founding member of Portland’s famed roots rockers, The Baseboard Heaters, Rob’s musical background draws on 60’s rock and classic country.
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! S W NE S ! W NE ! S W E N
MUSIC COURTESY OF MAGGIE MORRIS
PROFILE
Heartbreak Kid Maggie Morris had hit the jackpot. After years of slugging through her grocery store day job and dozens of seemingly fruitless shows with her indie-pop band, Genders, in 2014 the Portland quartet secured an opening slot on a full tour with Built to Spill. “We lived out our dream touring with our favorite band,” Morris says. “Sometimes I had to remind myself, ‘You’re here for a reason. You deserve to be here.’” The only problem was that, eventually, they had to come back home—and back down to Earth. Returning to play shows by themselves, for substantially smaller crowds, proved to be a drain on the other members of Genders, who longed for a break of several months or more to recharge. The involuntary time off gave way to a crisis of faith for Morris. “Why am I living in this shithole if I’m not playing music?” she says. “That’s why I do this—to have free time to make music. I’m working a job I don’t like so I can do this thing. So I got motivated and started something else that just snowballed.” Recruiting Typhoon drummer Pieter Hilton, who she’s known since high school, and bassist Jenny Logan of Summer Cannibals, Morris formed Sunbathe, initially to give herself something to do while giving her Genders bandmates a reprieve. But it soon became an outlet for some of her most personal songwriting; she admits to having cried on stage performing the material on more than one occasion. Harvested from some past experiences with “heartbreak of all kinds,” the band’s upcoming self-titled debut seems to follow the lovelorn template carved out by Joni Mitchell’s Blue. But Morris is reticent to pin down every source of inspiration. “Some of the songs are about failed relationships, a couple are about a failed relationship with my father,” she says. “That being said, I think good art is relatable to many different types of people for many different reasons. If, to you, it’s a break-up album, then it is.” Like the floral paintings in the background of the self-portrait she drew for the cover, Sunbathe is a bright, colorful expression of someone aiming to showcase the array of strengths hard times have emboldened. With a beefy backbeat and a foundation of shaggy fuzz and slinky bass, Morris moans through the stages of heartbreak to a classic, doowop-indebted groove, often carving out space for at least one twinkling guitar melody. The shiny transparency of her reverb-touched guitar tone evokes a barren desert landscape you imagine is populated only by Morris and the gruff, gigantic expanse of her backing band. With Sunbathe gearing up for their first official tour and Genders newly revitalized, Morris is hugely optimistic about the immediate future. She echoes a sentiment from her onetime tourmate, Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, imparted after a particularly long, exhausting stretch of shows, without a night off: “I get to play music for people every night. To me, that is a night off.” “That’s the kind of gratitude I hope to have,” Morris says. “To do something you love and not have a sense that people owe you for it.” CRIS LANKENAU. How a crisis of faith spurred Maggie Morris’ most personal project yet.
SEE IT: Sunbathe plays the Know, 3728 NE Sandy Blvd., on Tuesday, June 13, with Paper Brain and Strange Ranger. 9 pm. Contact venue for ticket prices. 21+. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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B E AT R I Z P E R I N I
MUSIC
BOOGIE ON: Boogarins play Mississippi Studios on Tuesday, June 13. cent neo-folk,” if you had to call it something. The acoustic iteration of Xasthur is by far the best variation yet, offering weighty, dark, committed chord changes to metal fans and thoughtful, audible lyricism to acoustic-folk fans. ISABEL ZACHARIAS. High Water Mark Lounge, 6800 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-286-6513 9pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
Def Leppard, Poison, Tesla
[HARD ROCK] While modernrock fans spend their time swept up in newer artists like Ghost or the resurgent Rise Against, classic acts like Def Leppard and Poison have been making some new moves themselves. Def Leppard dropped a self-titled album that landed them Classic Rock magazine’s Album of the Year award. The obvious high of this feat sparked the band’s return to touring, even premiering a new live music video to go along with it. For Poison, this tour marks a reunion of all the original members for the first time in over five years. Basically, no matter how tired “Pour Some Sugar On Me” gets, or how everyone just wants to forget the terrible bandana-hair combo of Bret Michaels, neither are going anywhere anytime soon. CERVANTE POPE. Moda Center, 1 N Center Ct St., 503-235-8771. 7 pm. $29.50$350. All ages.
Sunset Series: The Donkeys, Norman
[CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’] Folks have been chasing their dreams to California for some time. The musicians on hand, such as San Diego’s the Donkeys, are part of a long lineage of active observers, turning these often ill-fated endeavors into a type of openair, melancholic rock that just doesn’t exist anywhere else. The Donkeys’ latest release, Ride the Black Wave, embodies such cerebral sounds, tying open-highway folk to the bittersweet indie rock born of life in a sprawling, sometimes unforgiving metropolis. Tonight’s show greets the sunset of the roof of Rev Hall. MARK STOCK. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St #110, 503-288-3895. 7 pm. $15. 21+.
The Body, Muslin, Lingua Ignota, Braveyoung
[EXPERIMENTAL SLUDGE] The Body gets introduced as a “Portland band” in press materials, but the fearless experimentation Chip King and Lee Buford have been dabbling in since 2004 is more a product of their roots in the Providence noise scene than that of the Pacific Northwest hesher scene. Equally at home with blast beats and clipped drum machine marches, the Body rarely misses when throwing as many heavy and discomforting sounds
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Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
in a blender as possible. On their latest, last year’s No One Deserves Happiness, death marches coated in sludge gallop ferociously alongside shrieking vocals and distorted, canned beats within a span of just two tracks. Yet the whiplash of such juxtaposition is blunted by a pervasive feeling of dread and uneasiness that makes the record’s abject horror serve as the basis of its continuity. It’s uneasy listening on a sonic level, but the cohesiveness of No One still demands a great deal of respect for the duo’s mastery of disparate sounds, servicing a nightmarish aesthetic that’s inimitable at this point in their career. PETE COTTELL. The Know, 3728 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-473-8729. 8 pm. $10. 21+.
MONDAY, JUNE 12 The Specials
[TWO-TONE SKA] See Get Busy, page 27. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047. 8 pm. $35 advance, $40 day of show. All ages.
TUESDAY, JUNE 13 Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Revocation, Withered
[DEATH METAL] So many amazing stories begin, “Once upon a time in Florida…” And so it goes with death-metal legends Morbid Angel. The band helped blaze the trail for some of the most extreme music of the last 30 years. Sadly, a series of recent missteps—in particular the widely panned reunion album with original bassist-vocalist David Vincent— have left the band floundering. If this sounds familiar, it should. The first time Vincent left, Steve Tucker stepped into his black knee-high boots to deliver a trio of brutal albums. Tucker is back in the fold now, and that’s the material the band is focusing on now—razor-wire intense progressive death metal from the Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, Gateways of Annihilation and Heretic albums. On the off chance that Morbid Angel sounds long in the tooth here, the support acts are vital and crucial, particularly the blackened sounds of Atlanta’s Withered. NATHAN CARSON. Dante’s, 350 West Burnside St., 503-226-6630. 8 pm. $23. 21+.
Boogarins, Mattress
[SOUTH AMERICAN PSYCH] The current psych-rock hotbed is south of the equator, in places like Australia and Brazil. Boogarins, of the latter country, is among the leaders of the experimental movement, treating the inherent musicality of the Portuguese language to intrepid jamming, jazz-
CONT. on page 39
ALBUM REVIEWS
The Parson Red Heads BLURRED HARMONY (Fluff & Gravy) [INDIE FOLK ROCK] Album after album, the Parson Red Heads further refine their influences into one smooth sonic ride. The band’s fourth LP, Blurred Harmony, accomplishes this ionic fusion better than any of their releases so far. Except for thrown-in psychedelic interludes “Answer Twice” and “Nostalgia of the Lakefronts,” there isn’t a skippable track. Melody is king here—like the straightup country-rock love song “Time After Time,” which floats through its dense vocal harmonies with Crosby, Stills and Nash-like clarity. It spills seamlessly into drawn-out psych-rock forays like “Time Is a Wheel,” with everything thematically united by compacting big questions into lyrical tidbits. “The future cannot tell
me that I’m wrong or make me sad,” Evan Way sings on opener “Please Come Save Me,” atop layers of slide guitar and washed-out drum fills. As Way has admitted, in their formative years, the Parsons “weren’t sure if we were very good, but we were sure that there was a special bond growing between us.” That bond is still what shows most on Blurred Harmony— from a band whose aim is not to impress, but to have fun, experiment and remind you of why you like music in the first place. ISABEL ZACHARIAS. SEE IT: The Parson Red Heads play Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with the Minus 5 and the Reverberations, on Thursday, June 8. 9 pm. $10 advance, $13 day of show. 21+.
King Black Acid SUPER BEAUTIFUL MAGIC (Mazinga) [FILM ROCK] The term “cinematic” gets bandied about in promotional literature for any piece of music that relies on copious amounts of reverb and wandering arrangements. But big-screen ambition is too deeply ingrained in the DNA of Daniel Riddle’s King Black Acid project for the term to be applied to as any sort of pejorative. On Super Beautiful Magic, Riddle creates a lush fantasia of slow-burning psychedelia that makes good use of the studio wizardry he developed while providing music for films and television shows like The Mothman Prophecies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though heavy-handed at times, Magic is a strong case for the Big Rock Album surviving as a vital piece of longform art. The album’s most serious tracks, like opener “Welcome Down the Rab-
bit Hole,” have a brooding, bombastic air that will immediately feel inviting to fans of Gentlemen-era Afghan Whigs, while the airy psych-pop of the album’s most obvious single, “Ain’t Nobody Gonna Drink My Blood,” is a successful example of Flaming Lipslite. Riddle employs spacey touchstones of psych rock to paint in broad, dark strokes of curiosity and heartbreak. It’s the sound of a brilliant mind being completely unloaded onto the proverbial tape, yielding a gorgeous record that’s crammed with ideas without being suffocating. PETE COTTELL. SEE IT: King Black Acid play Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with Cedar Teeth and Daydream Machine, on Friday, June 9. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
Sweeping Exits GLITTER & BLOOD (Self-Released) [ V E LV ET G O L D M I N E ] S w e e p i n g E x i t s ’ g ot h i c glam-rock opus narrates the epic tale of a vampire named Desmond who traverses through the tumult of love and coming of age, all while maintaining the extensive demands of being undead. That information alone should suffice as to whether you’re a detractor or disciple. But anyone still on the fence needs to know that the Rocky Horror-meets-Hedwig template of shamelessly catchy rock poses on Glitter & Blood are copious here and impeccably done, despite the campy subject matter. “Miami Beach,” “Vampire in Love” and “The Queen’s Ball” are all exemplary, Little Richard-esque rockers, sufficient to draw interest from any-
one too cool for the merits of the storyline. Singer Mira Glitterhound has said the ultra-violence present in her lyrical content is a deadly serious reaction to her real-life experiences being harassed as a transgender woman, admirably spinning all-too-real resentment and pain into something hilariously ramshackle. Spanning 18 tracks, some might g et winded before the final curtain, but those of us with lifetimes behind us will find reward here for thousands of years to come. CRIS LANKENAU. SEE IT: Sweeping Exits play Black Water Bar, 835 NE Broadway, with Little Star, Alien Boy and Babe Waves, on Friday, June 9. 8 pm. $5. All ages. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC
HORN DOG: Farnell Newton plays Jack London Revue on Saturday, June 10. inspired time signatures, fuzzy guitar rhythms and a twisted hit of bossanova. The band’s 2015 release, Manual, continues to impress thanks to its brainy vision of adventurous rock. Few bands navigate so much territory in such a tight fashion. MARK STOCK. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
XXXTentacion, Ski Mask The Slump God, Craig Xen
[MULTI-GENRE] You might’ve of heard of XXXTentacion through his single “Look at Me!,” a prominent display of rat-a-tat cadence that sparked a debate about whether he or Drake created the flow first. While “Look at Me!” blew up on a mainstream level— it currently sits at 76 million plays on SoundCloud— the 19-yearold South Florida rapper maintained a steady presence on the streaming platform with his EPs and loosies, revealing an eclectic artist who can do metal, trappunk and ethereal R&B with equal aplomb. Compared to the glossy textures found in the music of fellow Floridian Rick Ross, XXX’s raw, distorted hip-hop is cutting through for its originality. He simply doesn’t sound like anyone out right now. ERIC DIEP. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
CLASSICAL, JAZZ & WORLD Joe Lovano Classic Quartet
[SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS] Cleveland-bred saxophonist Joe Lovano plays with the sort of burly midwest tone forged in harsh winters and sweltering summers and fed with steaming Polish Boy sandwiches. A technical magician whose “classic quartet” delivers swinging post-bop with a sharp contemporary edge, Lovano has remained at the forefront of the tenor world since signing to Blue Note Records a quarter-century ago. Most importantly, he’s made a name for himself while simultaneously helping raise to new heights the next generation of young lions, including the bass-piano-drums trio he’ll perform with tonight. PARKER HALL. Fremont Theater, 2393 NE Fremont Street, 503-9461962. 7 pm Thursday, June 8. $30 advance, $35 day of show. All ages.
Oregon Chorale
[REST IN PEACE] With so much death haunting the world in general and Portland in particular these days, it’s an apt moment
for a concert dedicated to requiems—prayers for the dead. Like Brahms and Faure in their famous requiems, Los Angeles composer Morten Lauridsen wrote his Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light) after his mother, who had introduced him to music when he was growing up in Beaverton, died. Using techniques from across eras, Lauridsen achieved a beautiful simplicity that has moved listeners around the world since its world premiere in Portland 20 years ago, bringing solace to millions (including a performance at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks) and becoming one of the most performed works by a living composer. Accompanied by organ, the 70-voice Hillsboro based choir will also perform another of the most popular and consoling requiems, written by French composer Maurice Durufle 70 years ago. BRETT CAMPBELL. Bethel Congregation United Church of Christ, 5150 SW Watson Ave., Beaverton. 7 pm Saturday, June 10 and 2 pm Sunday, June 11. $10 seniors and students, $15 general admission. All ages.
Farnell Newton
[FUNKY JAZZ TRUMPET] See Get Busy, page 27. Jack London Revue, 529 SW 5th Ave. 9 pm Saturday, June 10. $10. 21+.
ViVoce presents And Still She Sings
[VICTORY SONGS] ViVoce, the excellent 21-woman chorus of Portland Revels, like to combine songs from many cultures with poetry and storytelling, making their concerts unlike any others in Portland. This time, they’re singing folk music from Wales, Poland, Bulgaria and the British Isles, as well as honoring African American and shape-note singing traditions, all on the theme of triumph over adversity. University of Oregon folklore professor Dianne Dugaw joins the choir this time to perform a 16th century ballad about a woman leading an army to victory in a tough battle, which might have worked beautifully if the November presidential election had turned out differently. Or think of it as a prelude to Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 campaign. BRETT CAMPBELL St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 1704 NE 43rd Ave. 7:30 pm. 7:30 pm Saturday, June 10 and 4:30 pm Sunday, June 11. $13 seniors and students, $16 general admission. All ages.
For more Music listings, visit Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC CALENDAR WED. JUNE 7 Clinton Street Theater 2522 SE Clinton St World Mandolin Concert
Dante’s
350 West Burnside TWRP with Slime Girls
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. A Birthday Celebration for Prince with Farnell Newton & the Othership Connection
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St Moody Little Sister (winery)
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Black Stone Cherry
Joe Lovano Classic Quartet
[JUNE 7-13]
For more listings, check out wweek.com.
LAST WEEK LIVE THOMAS TEAL
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
Editor: Matthew Singer. TO HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED, send show information at least two weeks in advance on the web at wweek.com/ submitevents. 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.
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Zakk Sabbath, Beastmaker
Jack London Revue 529 SW 4th Ave. Mel Brown B-3 Organ Group
The Analog Cafe
720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. School of Rock Adult Program
The Lovecraft Bar 421 SE Grand Ave Pleasure Curses, Technophobia
Turn! Turn! Turn!
8 NE Killingsworth St Forever June
Kenton Club
2025 N Kilpatrick St And And And, Taller Younger Brother, Lonesome Radio Heart
MON. JUNE 12 Crystal Ballroom
Landmark Saloon
1332 W Burnside St The Specials
4847 SE Division St, Jake Ray and the Cowdogs; Miller and Sasser’s Twelve Dollar Band
Dante’s
350 West Burnside Nina Diaz
Doug Fir Lounge
Mississippi Studios
830 E Burnside St. Overcoats
3939 N Mississippi Ave. The Parson Red Heads, The Minus 5, The Reverberations
Edgefield
Muddy Rudder Public House
2126 SW Halsey St Groovy Wallpaper (winery)
Jack London Revue
8105 Se 7th Ave. Hops and Honey; Bigfoot Mojo
Landmark Saloon
The Fixin’ To
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Conveyer
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Holocene Turns 14 529 SW 4th Ave. Coco’s Cacophony:
4847 SE Division St, Honky Tonk Union
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave Tallulah’s Daddy
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Darcys
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 Se 7th Ave. Lauren Sheehan and Friends
Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St #110 Deva Premal & Miten with Manose
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. Mount Kimbie, Ash Koosha, Tirzah
The Fixin’ To
8218 N. Lombard St Sleeping Beauties, Lavender Flu, Luke Gunn
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St Asher Fulero Band
8218 N. Lombard St The Plastic Harmony Band, Dramady, Class M Planets
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St Object Heavy
The Know
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Crown Larks, Hollow Sidewalks, Havania Whaal
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, Grass With Class
The O’Neil Public House
6000 NE Glisan St. Joseph Demaree and the Great Smoking Mirror
The Secret Society
116 NE Russell St Thursday Swing featuring 12th Avenue Hot Club, The Barn Door Slammers
The Waypost
3120 N. Williams Avenue, Noise Nomads, Eloe Omoe, Redneck, EMS, Flyshc
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, SpaceFace, Reptaliens, Melt
Turn! Turn! Turn!
8 NE Killingsworth St CJ Boyd and Coordination
Valentines
232 SW Ankeny St Burd
Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell St. Corinne Bailey Rae
THU. JUNE 8 Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash St Tartar Control
Beacon Sound
3636 N Mississippi Ave Samson Stilwell
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St Marian Hill, Opia
Dante’s
350 West Burnside Afrolicious
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St Bill Wadhams & Co. (Little Red Shed)
FORTUNE
329 NW Couch St Undrcats feat. Neo Fresco
Fremont Theater
2393 NE Fremont Street
FRI. JUNE 9 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave Kasey Chambers
Bit House Saloon
727 SE Grand Ave Alchemy featuring Kris Moon, Lincoln Up, Jusayn
Black Water Bar 835 NE Broadway Sweeping Exits, Little Star, Alien Boy, Babe Waves
Bossanova Ballroom
722 E Burnside St. Altars of Fastness: Backslider, Sick/Tired, Escuela, Savage, Big Idiot, Cliterati, RKC, Family Vacation, Snakes, BadxMouth, Disease, Speedwitch, Ruined It, WWYD, Brown Note
Dante’s 350 West Burnside Lita Ford, Vanity Kills, Breaker Breaker
Duff’s Garage
2530 NE 82nd Ave Rae Gordon
Eastburn
1800 E Burnside St, Tara Velarde with Trent Price
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St. The Resolectrics
Hawthorne Theatre
Landmark Saloon
COME ON OVER, VALERIE: Valerie June smiled, her teeth brilliantly white against red lipstick. She leaned close enough into the microphone to kiss it and said, “See, I have something that not many people get to have in this world.” The whole Aladdin Theater quieted, even those rabid fans clustered at the front of the dance floor, desperate to hear June’s secret revealed. “An elephant,” she finally said, matter-of-factly. She then explained that this was what her bandmates had nicknamed her massive wardrobe suitcase. June’s whole presence—unapologetic Tennessee drawl, head-to-toe sequins and gems, bare feet, dendritic dreadlocks—seems a romantic relic from a bygone era of show-business gloss, like if Tammy Wynette or Lynn Anderson developed an incongruent interest in the blues. Onstage at the Aladdin on June 3, June gave off the impression of a gilded, sauntering mermaid, hands and fingers doing a curled, hypnotic dance through every instrumental break. Coming out of juicy, frayed-edged blues ballad “You Can’t Be Told,” she said, “You know when everything’s going right in life, and then you freak out? I wanna tell you that you can accept what’s good in your life. You don’t have to question it.” June may not break any new musical ground, but live, she is a force of good, old-fashioned positivity, inviting listeners to embrace the excitement of the present moment without irony or judgment. Few performers have that invisible thing—that unquantifiable thing that most people just call soul. ISABEL ZACHARIAS. Fremont Theater
2393 NE Fremont St. Famous Lucy, Solvents, Rough For Radio
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Tigers Jaw, Saintseneca, Smidley
Jack London Revue 529 SW 4th Ave. Royal Jelly Jive
Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Coloring Electric Like, Teleporter, Ten Million Lights
Landmark Saloon
4847 SE Division St, The Davenport Brothers
Mission Theater
1624 NW Glisan St. The Junebugs, Kina & Matt, Shane Brown
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. King Black Acid, Cedar Teeth, Daydream Machine
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 Se 7th Ave. Whiskey Deaf; The Sportin’ Lifers Trio
Plew’s Brews
8409 N Lombard St, Gary Beuford
Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St #110 Sunset Series: Avi Buffalo, Andrea Silva (roofdeck)
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. Under Pressure: A Night of Bowie and Queen
The Analog Cafe
720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Cory Branan
The Fixin’ To
8218 N. Lombard St Cool Flowers, Gentle Bender, Way Worse
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave Daniel Lanois & Rocco DeLuca
The O’Neil Public House
6000 NE Glisan St. Alexa Wiley & the Wilderness; Biddy on the Bench
The Secret Society 116 NE Russell St Pete Krebs and his Portland Playboys
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Radioactivity, Bad Sports, Macho Boys, Ditched
SAT. JUNE 10 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave Damien Escobar
Artichoke Music Cafe 3130 Se Hawthorne, Brooks Robertson
Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash St My Siamese Twin
Bethel Congregation United Church of Christ 5150 S.W. Watson Ave., Beaverton Oregon Chorale
Doug Fir Lounge 830 E Burnside St. Sassparilla
Eastburn
1800 E Burnside St, All The Real Girls, Dustin Scharlach (of Landlines), Dottie Eyes
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St. John Mellencamp, Jewel, Carlene Carter; John Bunzow (winery)
First Congregational Church of Portland
1126 SW Park Avenue, Portland Lesbian Choir presents “You! Yes, You!”
Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St #110 Sunset Series: The Donkeys, Norman
Slim’s PDX
8635 N Lombard St. Go Fever
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. Supersuckers, the Derelicts
St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
JUNE 11 Artichoke Music Cafe 3130 Se Hawthorne, Anne Weiss Student Showcase
Bethel Congregation United Church of Christ 5150 S.W. Watson Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97005 Oregon Chorale
Edgefield
529 SW 4th Ave.
2126 SW Halsey St Lewi Longmire & Anita Lee Elliott (winery)
Farnell Newton
The Analog Cafe
Landmark Saloon
Hawthorne Theatre 1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Goodbye June
High Water Mark Lounge
6800 NE MLK Ave Xasthur, Johanna Warren, Erin Jane LaRoue, Canadensis
Landmark Saloon
4847 SE Division St, Redwood Son
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Cash’d Out (Johnny Cash tribute); Motown & Beyond the Beatles
Moda Center
1 N Center Ct St, Def Leppard, Poison, Tesla
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 Se 7th Ave. Terry Robb and Lauren Sheehan
720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Big D & the Kids Table, Left Alone, The Doped Up Dollies
The Fixin’ To
8218 N. Lombard St Glacial Fall, To End It All, Inhalant
The Know
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. The Body, Muslin, Lingua Ignota, Braveyoung
The Lovecraft Bar 421 SE Grand Ave Volt Divers
The Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd X SUNS, Violetera
Turn! Turn! Turn!
8 NE Killingsworth St Maurice and the Stiff Sisters, The Jack Maybe Project, Bored of Directors
Twilight Cafe and Bar
1420 SE Powell Wolf & Bear, She Preaches Mayhem, The Globalist, & WORWS
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave Mr. Ben
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Blaenavon
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 Se 7th Ave. Lloyd Jones
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St Sonic Forum
Valentines
232 SW Ankeny St Kevin Redlich, Brenda Carsey and the Awe, Rakes
TUE. JUNE 13
1704 NE 43rd Avenue, ViVoce presents And Still She Sings
Jack London Revue
4847 SE Division St, Ian Miller and Friends
4847 SE Division St, The Oregon Trailers
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Gang of Youths
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 Se 7th Ave. Dan & Fran
Rontoms
600 E Burnside St Old Town Music Showcase
St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
1704 NE 43rd Avenue, And Still She Sings, ViVoce Concert
Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
17200 NE Delfel Rd, Ridgefield, WA Future, Young Thug, A$AP Ferg, Zoey Dollaz
Tapalaya
28 NE 28th Ave. Zydeco Brunch Dance Party
Black Water Bar
835 NE Broadway Yardsss, wrtch, Coastal States
Dante’s
350 West Burnside Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Revocation, Withered
Doug Fir Lounge 830 E Burnside St. Bombadil
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St Cul An Ti (The Little Red Shed)
Hawthorne Theatre
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Hellyeah
Mississippi Studios 3939 N Mississippi Ave. Boogarins, Mattress
Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St #110 Hurray for the Riff Raff, Making Movies
Roseland Theater
8 NW 6th Ave XXXTentacion, Ski Mask The Slump God, Craig Xen
The Analog Cafe
720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Rose Room Swing Dance
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St Boyz II Gentlemen
The Know
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Sunbathe, Paper Brain, Strange Ranger, Worrydoll
The Ranger Station
4260 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Bluegrass Tuesday
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC COURTESY OF SEOUL BROTHER #1
NEEDLE EXCHANGE
DJ Seoul Brother #1 Years DJing: It’s been around 28 years. I started on radio when I was in high school, and eventually started playing bars and clubs around 1996. Genres: Currently, modern funk, hip-hop and boogie—but I enjoy spinning other forms of music, too, like reggae and jazz. Where you can catch me regularly: Beulahland every first Friday and Swift Lounge every fourth Thursday. Craziest gig: DJing at Funkmosphere in Los Angeles. I was really nervous, and I thought I was opening up the night. Turns out I get bumped to around midnight, and the place is going nuts. But when Dam-Funk and Laroj introduced me, I just felt like part of the party. The nerves left, the poppers popped, the funksters were getting funky and all was well. Something really funny happened after hours, but you’ll have to ask me about that in person. My go-to records: Tha Dogg Pound, gangsta rap; anything on Omega Supreme Records and MoFunk Records. Don’t ever ask me to play...: No requests, please. NEXT GIG: Seoul Brother #1 spins at Swift Lounge, 1932 NE Broadway, on Thursday, June 22. Jade Club
315 SE 3rd Ave Open House: Kidnap Kid
Lay Low Tavern
6015 SE Powell Blvd. DJ Joey Prude
WED, JUNE 7 Beulahland
118 NE 28th Ave Wicked Wednesday (hiphop)
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. TRONix: DJ Metronome (techno)
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave Event Horizon (darkwave, industrial)
Tonic Lounge
Advertise with WWEEK!
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Death Throes (death rock, post punk)
Tube
18 NW 3rd Ave. Dubblife
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Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
THU, JUNE 8 Black Book
Mad Hanna
6129 NE Fremont St Makeup & Booze
20 NW 3rd Ave Ladies Night (rap, r&b, club)
Moloko
Crush Bar
The Lovecraft Bar
Double Barrel Tavern
Tonic Lounge
1400 SE Morrison St. Queer Latin Night 2002 SE Division St. DJ Montel Spinozza
3967 N. Mississippi Ave. NorthernDraw (funk, soul) 421 SE Grand Ave Shadowplay (goth)
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. DJ Smooth Hopperator
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. DJ Rob F Switch / DJ EPOR
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. The M Machine (DJ Set)
FRI, JUNE 9 45 East
315 SE 3rd Ave UZ
Bit House Saloon
727 SE Grand Ave Alchemy (house, techno)
Where to drink this week.
NINO ORTIZ
BAR REVIEW
1. Upside Down
3318 Se Milwaukie Ave., 971-373-8607, facebook.com/upsidedownpdx
The folk from Uno Mas now have a chile-verde-andcheeseburger beer patio in Brooklyn, and it’s great— with 30 taps including root beer for the kids, and a 4-6 pm happy-hour that goes all day Sunday, with burgers for a mere $5.
2. Bar Casa Vale
215 SE 9th Ave., 503-477-9031, barcasavale.com.
Bar Casa Vale is a dream of Spanish cocktails, tapas, hearth fire and ham straight off the hock. It is also our 2017 Bar of the Year. See wweek.com/drank to read our bar guide online, or find out where to pick up a free hard copy.
3. Rachel’s Ginger Beer 3646 SE Hawthorne Blvd., rachelsgingerbeer.com.
It’s so rare to stumble across a bar that creates its own genre—serving up a variegated rainbow of flavored craft ginger beers spiked with booze and surprisingly versatile as an elixir.
4. Century
930 SE Sandy Blvd., centurybarpdx.com.
Weekends it’s a nightclub, Sunday morning it’s drag queen bingo, and on a Monday it might host an obscure Czech film. But the most important thing to you right now is going to be that beautiful roof.
5. The Lay Low
6015 SE Powell Blvd., 503-774-4645.
The Lay Low Tavern is like a museum devoted to Club 21, with seemingly every bartender, every piece of decor and the build-your-ownburger bar transported intact.
Black Book
20 NW 3rd Ave The Cave (rap, r&b, club)
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St 80s Video Dance Attack
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Dance Yourself Clean (indie)
DEKUM’S GRANDEST: Woodlawn’s weeks-old Grand Army Tavern (901 NE Oneonta St., 503-841-6195, grandarmytavern) is the most beautiful Cinderella story we’ve seen in a while, as far as bars go. Formerly sparse cider bar Bushwhacker, the once-awkward elbow of space has been made stylish. It is now an elegant wood-slatted hall of refreshing, citrusy cocktails and nose-to-tail, whole-pig butchery, with a rear wall fashionably papered in decorative flamingos whose necks overlap in lovingly baroque abundance. When we arrived, the two customers in front of us admired the transition. “The Bushwhacker people literally chased us out of an empty bar,” they complained, after they’d checked in to see whether their kid was welcome. “We’d never seen anything like it.” Grand Army Tavern, named after the square in New York City where its two owners met, is characterized instead by hospitality and solid execution. And children are welcome until 10 pm. The $9 Paloma—often degraded in Portland into acrid grapefruit soda and tequila—is here a silky, refined quaff gussied up with campari and agave. And the nose-to-tail sliders ($4 apiece) are decadent and terrific, from a truly excellent spicy kielbasa to a deep-flavored butt roast, served with fatty butter, house pickles and live lettuce. Still, the sliders have nothing on the greatness of the spicy ranch-flavored pork rinds ($4)— a detente between hot and cool in the Dorito world—served warm and still a little chewy, with the savory richness of skin fat still present. Also good: a generous $5 bowl of smoky black-eyed peas and dark greens, and a $4 tray of fried hummus with the texture of panisse. The beer list, meanwhile, is a beautiful complement to Breakside across the street—offering $5 IPAs from pFriem, and Belgians from Modern Times and Perennial. Few in the neighborhood seem to have found the place yet, but when they do, it’s hard to imagine them leaving easily. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, Believe You Me (house music)
The Lovecraft Bar
3967 N. Mississippi Ave. Klavical (modern soul, heavy breaks, hiphop)
The Secret Society
2845 SE Stark St TROPITAAL: A Desi-Latino Soundclash
421 SE Grand Ave NecroNancy: Miss Gendered Pageant
Jade Club
116 NE Russell St Jai Ho! Dance Party
Moloko
31 NW 1st Ave Jameston Thieves
315 SE 3rd Ave Gigamesh 3967 N. Mississippi Ave. King Tim 33 1/3 (aqua boogie & underwater rhymes)
Whiskey Bar
SAT, JUNE 10
Quarterworld
45 East
Spare Room
Black Book
The Goodfoot
Killingsworth Dynasty
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd Quarter Flashback (80’s) 4830 NE 42nd Ave The Hustle! (disco party) 2845 SE Stark St Soul Stew (funk, soul, disco)
Moloko
315 SE 3rd Ave Sam Feldt 20 NW 3rd Ave The Ruckus (rap, r&b, club) 832 N Killingsworth St Electric Dreams (new wave, synthpop, disko)
The Goodfoot
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, Folding | Space with Andrew Emil (Chicago)
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave Musick For Mannequins w/ DDDJJJ666, Magnolia Bouvier & DJ Acid Rick (sexbeat, creep-o-rama, hunkwave)
Valentines
232 SW Ankeny St Devil’s Pie (hip hop, r&b, new jack swing)
Whiskey Bar
31 NW 1st Ave MAXIMONO
S ’ S ’ D D N AN A L L T T R PPOOR
SUN JUNE 11 The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave Infinity Mirror (occult techno)
MON, JUNE 12 Dig A Pony
736 SE Grand Ave. OS Battles (synthpop, new wave, italo)
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. Reaganomix: DJ Nate C. (80s)
@WillametteWeek
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave Black Mass (goth, new wave)
TUE, JUNE 13
@WillametteWeek
Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Party Damage: DJ Folk Lore
Tonic Lounge
@wweek
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Toxic Tuesdays (goth, postpunk, spooky)
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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PERFORMANCE MICHAELA MARANS
FEATURE
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. 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: SHANNON GORMLEY (sgormley@wweek.com). TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit information at least two weeks in advance to: sgormley@wweek.com.
THEATER OPENINGS & PREVIEWS Avenue Q
Despite its Sesame Street cuteness and sardonic humor, Avenue Q requires a lot of its cast. Along with the singing, dancing and acting required for just about every musical, most productions of this particular play require their cast to man puppets. The puppets in Avenue Q sing about navigating issues like racism, sex and post-college disillusionment instead of the alphabet. Along with the topical one-act Building the Wall, it’s the second show Triangle Productions has added to its previously planned season. SHANNON GORMLEY. The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 NE Sandy Blvd., trianglepro.org. 7:30 pm ThursdaySaturday, June 8-July 1. $15-$35.
Good with People
Our Shoes Are Red only shows up every couple of years. The floater theater company, composed of husband and wife duo Matthew DiBiasio and PSU theater instructor Devon Allen, take their time looking for a script that they’re really into. This time, it’s David Harrower’s Good with People, a two-person play set in a bizarre Scottish seaside town outside of Glasgow that is also host to a nuclear weapons base and a peace camp. Naturally, the play makes use of that dichotomy: Innkeeper and anti-nuclear protester Helen comes into conflict with Evan, who grew up in the nuclear complex. SHANNON GORMLEY. Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., ourshoesarered.org. 8 pm ThursdaySunday, June 8-24. $15-$10.
Man of La Mancha
Somewhat of an outlier in its season, Portland Opera is staging a musical for its next production. But even though Man of La Mancha is not technically an opera, it does one of the most virtuosic scores of the music theater canon—“The Impossible Dream” requires some serious pipes. Portland Opera is heralding the show for its feel-good qualities, but what seems like it would make it fit most succinctly in an opera season is its mix of goofy humor and a sublimely bittersweet plot. While awaiting trial by the Spanish Inquisition, Cervantes turns his mock trial hosted by his fellow prisoners into a performance of a proto-Don Quixote. SHANNON GORMLEY. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., portlandopera.org. 7:30 pm Friday, June 9, 2 pm Sunday, June 11, 7:30 pm Thursday, June 15, 7:30 pm Saturday, June 17. $28-$250.
The Reunion
Over the past decade, Imago Theatre co-founder Carol Triffle has created quite the portfolio of absurd plays. Her last one, Beau Arts Club, was about three women who meet to talk about art, and whose menacing tendencies escalate way beyond social competition. Triffle’s follow-up sounds equally madcap. For starters, the setting of The Reunion is rarely used for anything but absurd, satirical humor. The play portrays the high school reunion of Delores, a pilot who constantly tells people she’s dying and who one day refuses to land her plane. The non-chronological plot will be injected with Delores’ memories and the antics of her fellow
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forlorn reunion attendees. SHANNON GORMLEY. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., imagotheatre.com. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, June 9-24. Additional performance 2 pm June 18. $10-$20 pay what you will.
ALSO PLAYING Constellations
Two lovers trek through seasons of courtship, betrayal and reconciliation in this gorgeous but hollow production of Nick Payne’s trippy romance. It’s a play with a vast reach—it begins with Marianne (Dana Green) telling Roland (Silas Weir Mitchell) about the merits of elbow licking and follows them through a marriage proposal and Marianne’s cancer diagnosis. In a twist, the story replays most of its scenes multiple times with alterations that shift the course of Marianne and Roland’s storied affair. Yet that doesn’t stop the production from feeling disappointingly superficial. This is partly Payne’s doing—Marianne and Roland are maddeningly generic creations— but it’s also because Green, Mitchell and director Chris Coleman skate on the surface of the characters’ affection, instead of plunging us into the passion that we’re supposed to believe slumbers beneath. The result is a love story that isn’t nearly as alluring as the wondrous, wormhole-like set on which it unfolds. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Portland Center Stage, 128 NW 11th Ave., pcs.org. 7:30 pm TuesdaySunday, 2:00 pm Saturday-Sunday, noon Thursday, through June 11. $25$70.
The Language Archive
While Portland Playhouse’s theater of almost a decade, an old church in Northeast, is undergoing renovation, they’re staging The Language Archive at CoHo Theater’s far more conventional space. But part of what makes Portland Playhouse’s productions so special is their imaginative staging that adapts to their non-traditional space, and the rom-com plot of The Language Archive is already fairly tame. George (Greg Watanabe) is a linguist who can speak several languages, but can’t communicate with his wife, Mary (Nikki Weaver). Despite the fact that it follows a failed marriage, The Language Archive is goofy and feel-good. The stage is often flooded with bright, sunny lighting. The script borders on sugary, but the acting prevents the cutesiness from seeming over-the-top. A man who feels that the death of languages is sadder than the death of people, George could easily seem unlikable. But Watanabe manages to make George both ridiculous and compelling. Besides, the play doesn’t seem concerned with compromise so much as acceptance. In one scene, Reston tells George his views on marriage: “When you keep holding on, something amazing happens. We become too tired to change. We become who we really are.” SHANNON GORMLEY. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., portlandplayhouse.org. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, through June 11. $25-$34.
Miss Julie
Late-1800s Sweden was not prepared for the attitude towards sex in Miss Julie: After it premiered, August Strindberg’s play was promptly banned throughout most of Europe. About an aristocratic woman who
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
CLOWNING AROUND: Angel Ocasio demonstrates how to “give a pie.”
Pie Me
WHAT WE LEARNED AT A PIE-THROWING WORKSHOP. BY SHA N N ON GOR MLEY 3. IF YOU’RE ON THE RECEIVING END, The vacant grounds of the Rose Festival is a strange PROTECT YOUR ORIFICES. sgormley@wweek.com
scene, but it’s hard to imagine a pie-throwing workshop happening anywhere else. In a corner of the carnival early in the morning before it opens, workshop instructor and full-time clown Angel Ocasio wears a white jumpsuit splattered with paint. It’s an impromptu workshop, so a few of the other attendees are also clowns, but the rest are Ocasio’s fellow Rose Festival employees. (He’s the festival’s mascot, the Clown Prince. ) Over three decades out of clown college, Ocasio convincingly makes pie throwing sound like a philosophy. To Ocasio, slapstick is basically a form of optimism. “[Pie throwing has] been around as long as comedy,” he says. “You get hit with a pie in the face, that’s serious stuff. But it’s how you deal with it that produces the comedy.” “It’s important that you learn not only how to give a pie, but how to take a pie,” Ocasio adds. For WW’s Classic Comedy Month, that’s exactly what we did. Here’s what we found out.
1. IT’S NOT ACTUALLY PIE. When we arrive at a patch of dirt by some porta potties, Ocasio unloads a bunch of shaving cream from a cardboard box and spirals the contents of a whole can into an aluminum pie tin. Along with being a waste of food, custard pie is apparently dense enough that it kind of hurts when it gets slammed in your face. Some clowns use whipped cream for their pies, but according to Ocasio, the sugar from it can remove clown makeup.
2. YOU DON’T ACTUALLY THROW IT. “Pies do not fly 100 feet into someone’s face,” says Ocasio. Instead, you have to “place” it on the face of your “victim”—basically, facepalm them with a mound of shaving cream.
It kind of goes without saying that you’ll want to keep your eyes and mouth shut. Getting a pie shoved onto your face is surprisingly claustrophobic. If you leave the tin hanging from your face, it gives the joke a moment to land. But it also means holding your breath, which is pretty uncomfortable when you’re doing it to avoid inhaling shaving cream.
4. TAKE YOUR TIME REMOVING THE PIE FROM YOUR FACE. Getting the pie off your face is where you get to inject your own unique clowning personality. It can happen pretty naturally: When there’s a mound of shaving cream over your entire face, you want to get rid of it. “If you get something in your mouth, just blow it out,” says Ocasio. “It’s a nice comedic effect.” You’re supposed to pull the tin straight off instead of dragging it down across your face. That way, you’ll leave more of the cream intact. One of the other workshop attendees dramatically wiped his eyes clean one at a time. I found myself motorboat exhaling before pulling my sunglasses out from under a layer of shaving cream—a stylistic touch Ocasio had recommended.
5. GET CREATIVE. Ocasio demonstrated several variations on tripping and face planting onto a pie and aiming for someone who ducks. There are infinite ways to pie and get pied, and searching for the unexpected is crucial to the mindset of a clown. “Clowns should see things through the eyes of a child,” says Ocasio. “Find a moment to discover something.” SEE IT: Angel Ocasio will be at the Rose Festival’s Junior and Grand Floral parades this weekend. See rosefestival.org for details.
ARMCHAIR FAMILY BOOKSTORE FOR OVER 45 YEARS
REVIEW C O U R T E SY O F FAC E B O O K
has an affair with a married servant, it portrayed a relationship that was lust-based and between a woman and a man of a lower social class—both things that Victorian audiences weren’t really cool with. But Shaking the Tree’s production is less interested in the play’s formerly lascivious reputation than its currently apt portrayal of class and power structures. SHANNON GORMLEY. Shaking the Tree Warehouse, 823 SE Grant St., shaking-the-tree. com. 7:30 pm Thursday-Sunday, May 5-June 10. No show Sunday, May 7 or Sunday, June 4
UNDER NEW OWNER NEW STOCK OF USED THINGS BOOKS • CDS • CLOTHES • DVDS • VIDEOS AND ADULT DVDS $5.00 ARMCHAIR FAMILY BOOKSTORE 3205 SE MILWAUIKE PORT. OR MON-FRI 11-6 SAT 11-5 503-477-5446
DANCE Chippendales
Before Magic Mike, Chippendales mainstreamed male strippers. It’s not exactly the most artsy or the dirtiest stripping, but it’s definitely a spectacle. Besides, the fact that a touring male stripper troupe is geared toward middle-aged gal pals is proof that societal progress does exist. SHANNON GORMLEY. The Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., roselandpdx.com. 8 pm Thursday, June 8. $25-$80. 21+.
Summer Splendors
In 2015, NW Dance Project commissioned four choreographers to create works set to Chopin’s Preludes. Like Chopin’s music, the results were slow and delicate, palatably but undeniably beautiful. The company is reviving the Chopin Project as an opener for the premiere of a piece by artistic director Sarah Slipper. The currently unnamed piece will portray one couple’s relationship through time: One duet will depict the couple when they’re young, another when they’ve grown older. Their last show, a modern ballet adaptation of Carmen, was able to depict relationship dynamics with a great deal of intensity and complexity, so hopefully their follow-up will too. SHANNON GORMLEY. Lincoln Hall, 1620 SW Park Ave., nwdanceproject.org. 7:30 pm ThursdaySaturday, June 8-10. $34-$58.
COMEDY The Cool Kids Patio Show
Doug Fir’s summer-long weekly standup showcase consistently books small but incredibly solid local lineups hosted by Andie Main. This week is a particularly awesome mix of heavy hitters in the Portland scene: Marcus Coleman, Matt Monroe and Adam Pasi. Plus, there’ll be music by the delightfully bizarre cumbiaand krautrock-influenced Dreckig. And it’ll be outside on Doug Fir’s patio. And it’s free. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside, dougfirlounge.com. 6 pm Thursday, June 8. Free. 21+.
Michael Ian Black
Comedy doesn’t always age well. But despite starting his career on the cult-classic ‘90s sketch show The State, Michael Ian Black’s material has held up reasonably well. Sure, he now talks about parenthood and politics, but his persona remains that of a selfabsorbed man-child, which contributes just as much to his humor as the punchlines themselves. SHANNON GORMLEY. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm. $25. 21+.
For more Performance listings, visit
WHO DO? YOU DO: Erin Shannon as the Goblin King.
The Power of Voodoo A dance company adapts Labyrinth.
The Goblin King features an unexpected prop for a dance show: Whoopee cushions, stuffed into the pockets of long, green carpet over which ensemble dancers roll and tumble to “Stayin’ Alive.” It’s TriptheDark’s approximation of the Bog of Eternal Stench from the movie Labyrinth. Much like the alt-children’s movie to which it pays tribute—the surreal story that stars David Bowie and features some of Jim Henson’s freakiest puppets—The Goblin King is a unique experience. With a sense of humor and camp common in almost every Portland art scene except dance, it’s deeply, and often hilariously, cheesy. Multiple dancers take turns playing the Goblin King and strutting around the stage wearing wigs that replicate Bowie’s glam mullet. There are some purely contemporary sequences, but the more idiosyncratic choreography is thoroughly jazzy: The dancers wear big, showy smiles and windshield-wipe their hands over their heads while in triangle formation. There’s even some tap dancing, which is perhaps as underappreciated as whoopee cushions. The three acts tell the same story— Sarah’s journey through the Goblin King ’s labyrinth to retrieve her abducted infant brother—through the lens of three different characters: Sarah, the Goblin King and Hoggle, the labyrinth-dwelling troll. Maybe it’s because it’s set to all Bowie songs, but the Goblin King’s act is the most joyous. Sarah and Hoggle’s acts feel like they’re trying to get across lessons about perseverance and the importance of friendship that’s hard to reconcile, with the lo-fi, occasionally choppy production. But Act II seems committed to being goofy: It opens with the goblins abducting a plastic baby doll while Kaician Jade Kitko dances the part of the pouty king to “Under Pressure.” Much of the joy comes from catching all the references, so it’s hard to imagine how much one would get out of it if they weren’t a Labyrinth fan. But if you have a reasonably high tolerance for camp, The Goblin King is odd in a deeply satisfying way. Besides, a blurred line between sincerity and absurdity is pretty faithful to the source material. SHANNON GORMLEY.
SEE IT: The Goblin King is at The Headwaters Theatre, 55 NE Farragut St., #9, tripthedark.com. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, through June 17. Additional show 2 pm Saturday, June 10. $15-$18. Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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COURTESY OF PNCA
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW
School Days
PNCA’S MFA EXHIBITS HAVE A LOT TO SAY. BY SHA N N ON GOR MLEY sgormley@wweek.com
Available at Powell’s Books 2016
WILLAMETTE WEEK
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Willamette Week’s Guides to Portland. 46
Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
Art school works exist in a strange purgatory. On one hand, students have the luxury of creating art that doesn’t need to be for sale in a gallery in order to be displayed. But going to school for art also means spending a lot of time around other artists, which can lead to work that’s more concerned with esoteric concepts than visceral effect. PNCA’s display of MFA projects is a three-part exhibit divided into visual studies, print media and collaborative design. There’s a lot crammed into one show. Most of those works are multimedia installations that ask for a lot of mental energy. Angélica Maria Millán Lazon’s Engendradxs, in particular, has a lot to say. The installation, which already showed at Williamson | Knight gallery last April, displays luscious velvet capes with crowned portraits of the artist’s aunt and grandmother on their backs. It’s opulent but inviting: Scraps of purple fabric draped through the center of the installation look like a train of flowers. There are six smartphones mounted on the wall playing videos of the project’s different components. In one, the artist wears a cape while leading a group of people through the streets of Portland chanting “Emancipated queens.” Savanna Youngquist’s Being Half and Whole creates a deceivingly placid scene. Folded papers designed to look like envelopes addressed to “The Visitor” explain that it’s telling the story of an affair between the artist’s boyfriend and her twin sister. But even without that information, you can sense that it’s telling a silently fraught love story. The installation almost blends into the gallery’s blank walls: Two white pillows hang on the wall, one with a head-sized imprint that crumples the plush surface like a crater. Two facing mirrors reflect phrases in white script onto each other. “We don’t hug” is written on one, “Because hugging you would be like hugging myself” on the other.
EMANCIPATED QUEEN: Angelica Maria Millan Lazon wearing works from Engendradxs.
Most of the works aren’t exactly confrontational, but they’re rarely serene. Jenna Reineking’s Reconstructing Deconstructed Constructs exacerbates fears of domesticity as much as a Bikini Kill song. It seems sardonically stale: Brown carpet covers the tops of stacked wood pallets. Among the objects standing on those platforms are a dustpan and broom coated in a clumpy film that makes you feel like your mouth is full of mothballs. With all its detailed scenes, the exhibit can feel overwhelming. So Aruni Dharmakirthi’s Fissures of the In-Between initially feels like a refuge from the chaos. Tattered silk blankets that hang from the ceiling create an intimate passageway. Projected on the opposite wall is a triptych of colorful animations. It’s beautiful until you realize how unsettling it is: The vibrant patterns and abstract shapes are mixed with grainy, uncanny valley graphics and cartoonish drawings of men whose smiling, disembodied heads bob up and down above their bodies. In a way, art school’s tendency to try to make us feel uncomfortable is deeply idealistic. Perhaps more than any other corner of the art world, these artists ask for all they can from their viewers—and from art itself. GO: PNCA’s MFA exhibits are at the Falcon Building, 321 NW Glisan St., pnca.edu. Through June 16. Free.
BOOKS = WW Pick. Highly recommended.
REVIEW
BY ZACH MIDDLETON. 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.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7 On the Road with Finley and Bohlman: Portland
Perhaps no Oregon naturalists did more for the birding cause than William L. Finely, Irene Finley, and Herman T. Bohlman, as is demonstrated in On the Road with Finley and Bohlman. From Malheur Wildlife Refuge to the eponymous William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, Finley and company helped to establish Oregon as one of the most interesting destinations for birders in the West. First Congregational Church of Christ, 1126 SW Park Ave. 6:30 pm.
FRIDAY, JUNE 9 Lisa Ko
Lisa Ko’s debut novel The Leavers has already started piling up acclaim. Awarded the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, the book tells the story of a young Chinese-American boy named Deming whose mother disappears without a trace after leaving for work one day. Ko, whose work has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2016, will appear in conversation with Megan Labrise of Kirkus Reviews. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 800-878-7323. 7:30 pm.
SATURDAY, JUNE 10 Kelly Sue DeConnick with Lidia Yuknavitch & Chelsea Cain
Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Bitch Planet: Extraordinary Machine told the story of women being shot into the inky ether of space for the insolence of disobeying the patriarchy. The tale struck one hell of a chord with audiences and now DeConnick is back with Bitch Planet Volume 2: President Bitch! DeConnick will be joined in conversation with Lidia Yuknavitch and Chelsea Cain. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 800-878-7323. 10 am.
MONDAY, JUNE 12 Steven Rowley
Small-dog love is a rare and inscrutable love, the mysteries of which are knowable only to the participants. So when in the new novel Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley, gay, single writer Ted’s dachshund Lily becomes ill, there’s no question why he goes to extreme lengths to save her. The book’s been called a “must read” for the summer by The Washington Post. Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 800-878-7323. 7:30 pm.
TUESDAY, JUNE 13 Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland
Neal Stephenson looks like Rasputin and works as a “futurist” for a virtual reality company, plus seems to be helping Jeff Bezos design a sub-orbital launch system. But in his spare time, the Snow Crash author writes novels—like The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., a collaboration with historical novelist Nicole Galland that promises to “question the very foundations of the modern world.” But mostly it’s about magic, and a device that can bring it back. Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 503-288-4651. 7 pm. Free.
For more Books listings, visit
Rip-Off City “Old Portland” might seem just about meaningless these days— a nebulous term interchangeably applied to a wide swath of unrecoverable pasts, each one coinciding with homegrown adolescence or a transplant’s first extended visit. All the same, whenever folks mention PDX’s glory days, they’re not talking about the ’70s. Nobody was moving to this rotten hub of a dying state back then— and, as Rose City Vice: Portland in the ’70s: Dirty Cops and Dirty Robbers (Feral House, 104 pages, $12.95) makes painfully clear, Portlanders used to grow up quick. Riddled with hardboiled purple prose by former Oregonian columnist Phil Stanford, this vintage exposé strings together an addled orgy of corrupt cops, coked-up officials and colorful gangsters for lurid evocations of our town’s ugliest decade—but this time-swept rogue’s gallery feels awkwardly stranded between the rollicking and the real. Portland Confidential, Stanford’s first volume, breathed a shambling wonderment into darkened tales of none-too-rigorously-annotated city lore—as if an aged gent of threadbare tailoring trumped barroom reveries by sketching an intricate cocktail napkin map of where all the bodies are actually buried. Thrilling, yes, but not necessarily worth repeating. Visit the well often enough, and even the wiliest dive-bar sage will run out of A-material and start piecing together half-formed anecdotes and overselling the punchlines of middling yarns. This latest collection suffers from diminishing returns. The narratives aren’t strong enough nor the subjects sufficiently well-known to accommodate a pulp-scrapbook aesthetic, and hurtling bulletin after disconnected bulletin can’t help but emphasize the strain. Moreover, even if echoing the quick ‘n dirty style of bygone scandal mags’ fluff verisimilitude, the scattershot approach to storytelling disables any hint of momentum and tragically misfires whenever actual news (then-Mayor Neil Goldschmidt’s police-indulged affair with his 13-year-old babysitter) enters its sights. Cramming 30+ chapters into less than 100 pages, municipal corruption buffs should find Rose City Vice essential bathroom reading, and it’s the obvious festival gift for all Royal Rosarians-in-waiting. But newcomers eager to dive deep into authentic accounts of the city’s seamier past might come away disappointed. That era of Portland, by Stanford’s telling, appears not just trashy but mean and crass and unbearably provincial. His overview of the local porn boom teases cinematic details (zebra-striped wallpaper and translucent uniforms for the downtown Hilton’s fifth floor ‘lotion studio’) yet provides no context before hurtling into a less-than-compelling profile of an industry-adjacent mob associate as an apparent excuse for limp capper: a forgotten hoodlum arguing our City of Roses was instead the City of Sin, which would seem labored even if the rest of the world didn’t believe those nicknames the property of Pasadena and Las Vegas. Rose City Vice maintains its civic branding to a fault, and it’s a shame Stanford didn’t embrace the town’s other moniker. Puddletown has far more regional kick, after all, and we’ll just assume the author retains some fondness for those shallow, stagnant spills noticed only when reflecting neon glare. JAY HORTON. The hard drugs and soft reportage of Phil Stanford’s Rose City Vice.
GO: Phil Stanford will appear at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., powells.com, on Thursday, June 8. 7:30 pm. Free.
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MOVIES GET YOUR R E PS IN
Ametuer (1994)
Many consider Chloe Sevigny to be the reigning queen of alts. This is not true. Isabelle Huppert is the queen of alts. Watch her play a nun turned erotica author, who meets an amnesiac (Martin Donovan) who helps her complete a mission assigned by the Virgin Mary in Hal Hartley’s crime comedy. The film will be introduced by Dr. Mark Berrettini, head of PSU’s film department and a scholar on Hartley’s work. 5th Avenue Cinema, June 9-11.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) John Hughes’ classic of suburban goofballery, starring a young Matthew Broderick as the titular cool kid and Alan Ruck as the annoying nerd Cameron Frye, returns to the big screen, for free, as part of the Clinton Street Theater’s ongoing Resistance series. 7 pm, Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 503-238-5588, cstpdx.com.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Sir Sean Connery may have been the suavest James Bond, but Sir Roger Moore, who passed away on May 23, was the most fun, playing the gadget and babe obsessed secret agent with a wink and nod that spoke to the intrinsic ludicrousness of the character. Revisit 007’s mission to prevent a nuclear submarine from falling into the wrong hands. Raise a martini, shaken, not stirred. Laurelhurst, June 2-8.
Cheap Seats 2: The Artening
Forced to Fight (1971)
The Hollywood’s Kung Fu Theater series takes a turn for the weird. When martial arts master Invincible Super Chan (Tang Wei) learns of his master’s murder, he flies into a rage, developing superpowers which he uses to fight off entire armies. This super violent obscurity screens on 35mm. Hollywood, 7:30 pm, Tuesday, June 13.
Passing Through (1977)
The NW Film Center’s foray into black cinema continues with a look at the L.A. Rebellion: a movement of black filmmakers who studied at UCLA between the late ’60s and late ‘80s who rejected the norms of Hollywood filmmaking. Larry Clark’s Passing Through follows Eddie Warmack (Nathaniel Taylor), a jazz musician who reconnects with his grandfather (Clarence Muse) after being released from prison and wants to create a new form of jazz. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, 4:30 pm, Saturday, June 10.
ALSO PLAYING: Church of Film at North Star Ballroom: The Wind (year), 8 pm, Wednesday, June 7. Hollywood: Live and Let Die (1973), 7 pm, Saturday, June 10, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), 7 pm, Sunday, June 11. Mission: Reservoir Dogs (1992), June 7-11. Laurelhurst: The Big Sleep (1946), June 7-8. Academy: Jaws (1975), June 7-8, Princess Mononoke (1997), June 9-15. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium: Bluebeard (2009) 5:30 pm, Friday, June 9. Kiggins: Rififi (1955), 7:30 pm, Monday, June 12.
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LAST WEEK, WE WENT TO EVERY SECOND-RUN THEATER IN PORTLAND. THIS WEEK, WE VISITED EVERY ARTHOUSE THEATER IN PORTLAND. HERE’S THE RUNDOWN. BY WALKER MACMURDO AND
PETE COTTELL
wmacmurdo@wweek.com
pcottell@wweek.com
Portland’s got a lot of great spots to watch Hollywood movies at a discount. Last week, we visited 10 of them, and learned that the Academy and Laurelhurst were the best spots for watching mainstream films at massive discounts. This week, we go deeper. Portland has a thriving scene of theaters whose programming is dedicated to new indies off the festival circuit, rare repertory flicks and tiny productions from local filmmakers. We visited nine of them—including one in Vancouver— and ranked them on a scale of one to 100 based on the criteria you’ll see on the side. Here are the best spots in Portland to catch movies you won’t even be able to watch at the Lloyd Center.
HOLLYWOOD THEATRE
4122 NE Sandy Blvd., hollywoodtheatre.org, 503493-1128. SCORE: 93 The only fault one can readily find in this crown jewel of Portland’s arthouse scene is its popularity, which leads to oppressively long lines at the snack bar before screenings. Luckily, there’s another one upstairs offering a slightly diminished selection of
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Hollywood’s absurdly cheap $4 craft drafts, though the BEST super-fresh pFriem IPA PROGRAMMING (TIED) and an impressive selection of snacks, which includes piping hot popcorn, Salt & Straw ice cream and slices from nearby Atomic Pizza, is only availBEST able downstairs. Seating includes BEER tables for snack storage, durable multiplex seats and impressive panoramic views that only leave the very front row wishing they’d BEST shown up earlier. Programming is POPCORN arguably the best in the city, with directors appearances at classics, first runs of film festival favorites and a highly coveted 70mm projection system, one of a couple dozen in the country. Hell, even the Dandy Warhols have been known to play a show here on occasion. Hollywood isn’t the coolest neighborhood on the east side, but you won’t have any trouble finding somewhere to grab a bite or a beer within a block of where you parked your car. Does it get more classic Portland than enjoying a flight of tasters of beer served on a plastic skateboard at a bike shop before seeing a weird foreign horror film everyone is raving about? We think not.
CLINTON STREET THEATER
2522 SE Clinton St., cstpdx.com, BEST 503-238-5588. LOCATION SCORE: 84 Punk shows, KBOO benefits, foreign art films and the world record for the longest running weekly screenings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show are equally at home at the Clinton, lending a scrappy DIY feel to this kinda divey neighborhood theater that serves as the anchor for the corner of Southeast Clinton and 26th Avenue. Seating is a bit squeaky and worn out, but most adults who’ve spent $7 on a ticket for a movie about the Ayahuasca rituals of the Amazon can be trusted to sit still and remain quiet. And for cinephiles down on their luck, the theater maintains a “pay what you can” policy for those who can’t afford suggested ticket prices. The lack of draft beer is a notable setback, but $5 tall cans of Hopworks IPA and lager are a decent enough value and a much more favorable alternative to the usual suspects like Basecamp or Alameda. The popcorn ($3 for a small) was fresh, fluffy and loaded with lipsmacking clumps of salt. Stop by La Moule for a burger or Dots Cafe for a rousing conversation about condos and you’ve got yourself a pretty excellent night out in the Division St. area.
5TH AVENUE CINEMA
HOLLYWOOD THEATRE
CINEMA 21
616 NW 21st Ave., cinema21.com, 503-223-4515. SCORE: 82 Though Cinema 21 doesn’t carry itself with the pizzaz of other major Portland indies, it is as important to the fabric of Portland cinema— Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy and Jean-Marc Vallée’s adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild had their Portland premieres here—as any other cinema. Smack dab in the middle of Northwest 21st, Tom Ranieri’s theater keeps to a simple formula of celebrated indies (Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion, Julia Ducournau’s Raw) and gently artsy Hollywood flicks (Alien: Covenant) with the occasional foray into repertory, like Tarkovsky’s monumental sci-fi Stalker. In 2014, the theater raised over $70,000 to renovate the ancient seating in their one theater, meaning seats are comfy enough for a cat nap after a bag of fresh popcorn ($3.50, an actually big small) topped with nutritional yeast and fresh butter, or nab pizza fixins for slices from nearby Escape From New York ($4.95).
EMPIRICAL THEATER AT OMSI
1945 SE Water Ave., omsi.edu/theater, BEST 503-797-4000. SNACKS SCORE: 77 OMSI’s Empirical Theater is an awesome place to catch one of the many 3D-enhanced documentaries that screen earlier in the day, but the severe slant of its arena seating feels too close to the vertigo-inducing cheap seats at the Moda Center for comfort. The snack bar serves as the de facto cafe for all of OMSI, which means everything from hot dogs to Ruby Jewel ice cream
$
510 SW Hall St., 5thavecinema.com, BEST VALUE 503-725-3551. Open weekends. SCORE: 73 Portland State’s student-run theater was opened in 1970 as the Cini-Mini Theater, an arthouse “fuck you” from Larry Moyer to his brother Tom Moyer, mainstream Portland movie theater magnate and, later, Portland property magnate. Almost 50 years later, the college-aged programmers behind this movie theater-turned lecture hall-turned repertory theater maintain the same attitude. You’re not likely to catch crowd-favorite classics, but a mix of underappreciated Hollywood flicks like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, cult bombs like Ishtar and perhaps Portland’s most consistent commitment to queer cinema through films like Derek Jarman’s Blue and Charles Atlas’ Hail the New Puritan. Even better, tickets are free for PSU students and a mere $5 for general admission, with free bags of popcorn and a (beer free) concession bar featuring classic movie candy and La Croix for $1. The 5th Avenue isn’t Portland’s biggest theater, but it’s among it’s most underappreciated.
MCMENAMINS MISSION THEATER & PUB
1624 NW Glisan St., BEST mcmenamins.com, SEATING 503-223-4527. SCORE: 58 You’re going to be a little hard-pressed to saunter on into any old movie at the Mission. First, because the theater and live music venue only screens a couple of films a week ($4, $2 matinees), mostly well-worn crowd-pleasers like Reservoir Dogs or The Fifth Element among an extra McMenamins-y program of Timbers games, trivia nights and jug-and-washboard folk bands. Second, because the theater is in a weird corner of Slabtown that’s somehow far away from everything. But by golly if they don’t make the best of it. My pint of Win the Day IPA from one of 13 taps was fresh and malty, a great foil to generously buttered popcorn. Enjoy your film on the balcony, where the chairs are soft and spacious and there’s plenty of space for food from a menu of pizzas ($20-$23.50) and salads.
NORTHWEST FILM CENTER’S WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
BEST 1219 SW Park Ave., PROGRAMMING nwfilm.org/calendar, (TIED) 503-894-7557. SCORE: 50 Since 1971, the cinema arm of the Portland Art Museum has been bringing pure, uncut film-nerd films to Portland. The NWFC’s regular, lengthy programs include careerspanning retrospectives of auteurs like David Lynch and Chantal Akerman, deep thematic dives, such as their recent foray into African-American cinema, regular screenings of Criterion Collection favs and films from future legends like Andrea Arnold, plus screenings of new works from Portland and PNW indie and experimental filmmakers. However, the Whitsell is an auditorium, not a theater. Nary a snack is allowed inside and the filmgoing experience isn’t dissimilar to watching a movie inside of a NPR tote bag. You’re going to watch some excellent flicks, most on film, but eat in nearby downtown before the show.
LIVING ROOM THEATERS
341 SW 10th Ave., pdx.livingroomtheaters. com, 971-222-2010. SCORE: 46 The hardest part about watching a movie at Living Room Theaters is watching a movie at Living Room Theaters. First, buy your ticket ($10, minors not permitted after 7 pm), but if you arrive less than 15 minutes before the show, you might struggle to get a seat in one of their small theaters. Then, get your snacks from an upscale menu of panini, salad and personal pizza, which, if you’re lucky, they won’t forget to bring you. My Alternator IPA from Alameda Brewing was fresh from an above-average beer list sporting beverages from the Commons and pFriem, but my room-temperature, undersalted popcorn couldn’t be saved by a sprucing up from a selection of seasonings like butter or furikake. If you love following rules and wish to watch Alien: Covenant, Snatched or middlebrow film fest fodder like The Lovers at a slight discount from the nearby Regal Fox Tower, you’ve come to the right place.
KIGGINS THEATRE
1011 Main St., Vancouver, WA, kigginstheatre.com, 360-816-0352. SCORE: 42 If it weren’t for an ambitious roster of programming and its proximity to Trusty Brewing, the oh-so- pleasant home of WWs pick for best IPA in The ‘Couve, the Kiggins would be best relegated to a porn theater and forgotten. It’s a lovely space with ample legroom and chairs that tilt back at a funny angle, but the pricing on everything is an average of $2 more than any reasonable person would expect to pay in Portland proper, let alone a bedroom community in Washington that throws sales tax on top of the $7 they charge for stale pints of Brother Ass Particularity IPA and the $5 for a small dose of mealy, half-popped popcorn.
HOW WE SCORED EACH THEATER Programming: 30 points. If I’m going to an arthouse theater I don’t want to watch some dumb middlebrow bullshit.
Value: 20 pts. This economy is going to collapse any day now, so the difference between a $4 and $7 ticket is a big deal.
Beer: 10 points. Points are awarded both on the range and quality of the taps, plus the overall freshness of the IPA.
Popcorn: 10 points. We’re looking for freshness and variety of accoutrements, so your vegan friend who won’t shut the fuck up about nutritional yeast has something to be excited about.
Other Snacks: 10 points. Popcorn is classic, but pizza, burgers and weird sodas also rule.
Seating: 10 points. Hard to enjoy a movie if your ass hurts!
Location: 10 points. You’re probably going to want to do something before or after the movie gets out. The more cool shit around your theater, the better. E M I LY J O A N G R E E N E
R A C H A E L R E N E E ’ L E VA S S E U R
is on offer, but the popcorn was old by a 5:30 showing of Boss Baby and the beer situation relegated to a bizarre assortment of loose bottles that Ninkasi Total Domination was the best of. Being at OMSI is cool if you’ve got kiddos in tow, but there’s not much else happening within the immediate vicinity besides Noraneko and the corner with Bunk Bar and Boke a few blocks down from that. Still, it’s a great way to cool off in the dark and zone out to the one blockbuster they devote screen time to if you’ve been roasting in the sun on the boat dock all afternoon.
FIFTH AVENUE CINEMA Willamette Week JUNE 7, 2017 wweek.com
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MOVIES REVIEW COURTESY OF A24
Editor: WALKER MACMURDO. 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: wmacmurdo@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115. : This movie sucks, don’t watch it. : This movie is entertaining but flawed. : This movie is good. We recommend you watch it. : This movie is excellent, one of the best of the year.
NOW PLAYING Bill Frisell: A Portrait
NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS: It Comes at Night.
The Nightman Cometh W h et h e r m a s k e d k i l l e r s, undead hordes or rampaging beasts, good horror monsters give their victims—and their audience—something physical to fear. Equally important, their absence from the screen grants filmgoers a brief sense of relief. Director Trey Edward Shults’ harrowing, impossibly bleak It Comes at Night—which had its world premiere in April at the Overlook Film Festival at Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge—never even hints at relief. The monster here isn’t physical, or even specifically defined. It’s not even the mysterious plague that has seemingly decimated the world, though that’s plenty scary. The monster here is the knowledge that, at any point, you have to choose between doing right by others or watching your child choke on his own blood before putting a merciful bullet in his head just because you let somebody in your sanctuary. It’s fucking terrifying. From the very first frame, Shults locks you in the boarded-up home of its central trio: Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife (Carmen Ejogo) and their 17-year-old son Travis (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.). Having just incinerated a loved one, the family tries their best to go back to Paul’s strictly established routine, which includes chores, prescribed bedtimes and family meals: anything to keep some semblance of normalcy in their hidden home, the film’s sole setting. From what the audience can gather, the world around the family has succumbed to a plague. We have no idea how long it’s been, and it doesn’t matter. They’re at the end of days, and the family has holed up in their boarded-up home armed with guns, gas masks and what little shared humanity they still possess. When a stranger appears at their doorstep seeking help for himself and his young family, a fragile trust is formed. It’s not long before isolation, paranoia and fear of painful death take over, threatening to undo the careful steps that have helped the characters survive thus far. This is not a film of jump scares or rampant violence. Rather, Shults—who explored frayed family dynamics very differently in last year’s acclaimed Krisha—allows everything to unfold with subtly ratcheting tension. The cast is uniformly great, though Harrison, as a kid forced to confront mortality, coming of age and the influence of multiple alpha father figures, is the standout, effectively shouldering much of the film’s point of view. Shults, meanwhile, sticks largely to natural lighting, creating a gothic lantern-lit woodblock aesthetic akin to last year’s horror standout The Witch. It’s fully immersive in a way that makes you feel complicit in everything on screen. It Comes at Night lingers on the consequences of each individual choice the survivors makes, most of them soul-crushing. It’s a film that immediately lodges under your skin through to the gut-wrenching finale that sticks with you long after the lights thankfully come up. It’s the minimalist apocalyptic nightmare we never knew we needed, and a master class in lingering, universal fear. AP KRYZA.
It Comes at Night is a master class in lingering dread.
SEE IT: It Comes at Night is rated R. It opens Friday at Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Fox Tower, Hollywood, Tigard, Vancouver. 50
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Can a movie qualify as a portrait if it reveals next to nothing about the family, personality and psyche of the man it portrays? Hardly, but director Emma Franz (Intangible Asset No. 82) gives it a shot with this introduction to Frisell, a revered guitarist known for collaborating with Paul Simon and contributing to the soundtrack of Gus Van Sant’s Finding Forrester. Leading an army of worshipers, Franz styles the film as a hymn of praise for its soft-spoken subject, who we get to see playing low-key tunes and enjoying some intimate moments, like when he flashes a joyous smile after playing one of his more outré guitars. He seems like a nice guy, but how has his success impacted his wife? How did playing the guitar come to mean so much to him? Those crucial questions are impossible to answer because the film declines to delve too deeply into Frisell’s offstage life and provides only a superficial dissection of his work—fans will likely scoff when Simon stops by to sum up the appeal of Frisell’s music with vague allusions to “color” and “Americana.” The upside for those same fans, of course, is that spending an entire film in Frisell’s world may be a pleasure in its own right. NR. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bagdad, Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Lloyd, Pioneer Place, St. Johns Twin Cinema & Pub, Tigard, Vancouver.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
Giddy satire gives way to lazy bombast in this animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s children’s book series, which has too much of its titular underdressed superhero and too little of its prankster protagonists, two elementary schoolers (voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) at war with the tyrannical Principal Krupp (Ed Helms). Krupp is the sort of administrator who schedules a Saturday-morning science fair, for which he gets more than his just desserts when Hart’s character hypnotizes him to strip down to his spotless briefs, don a scarlet cape and blunder about as the moronic, Superman-like crusader Captain Underpants. It’s a funny idea, but director David Soren (Turbo) suffocates the movie under a hectic deluge of deeply unfunny gags, including a battle involving truck-size rolls of toilet paper and a tiresome evildoer named Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll), who has a vaguely offensive German accent. If only the entire film were as sharply subversive as its first act, which shows students schlepping through school while a gloomy rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” plods on the soundtrack—an uproarious bit of over-dramatization that, unlike much of the movie, won’t give you a headache. PG. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Beaverton, Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Lloyd, Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Tigard, Vancouver.
Manifesto
Cate Blanchett plays 13 different characters—including an anchorwoman, a homeless man and a factory worker— each “manifesting” different art movements across the 20th century in different vignettes in Julian Rosefeldt’s new feature. R. Cinema 21, Kiggins.
The Mummy
Sofia Boutella, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe star in this reboot of the Brendan Frasier classic about an evil mummy princess (Boutella) who gets up to no good. Review to come next week. PG-13. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Lloyd, Pioneer Place, Tigard, Vancouver.
Paris Can Wait
Would a lighter version of Eat, Pray, Love even be a film at all? Wouldn’t Nibble, Ponder, Enjoy simply float away? Paris Can Wait is a 90-minute vacation slide show of an American woman’s road trip from Cannes to Paris. It contains no fewer than seven scenes in which expensive wine is poured. Chauffeuring Anne (Diane Lane) about the countryside is her movie producer husband’s business partner Jacques (Arnaud Viard). They stop frequently for culinary delights and to bandy stereotypes about. “You Americans are so…” uptight, fretful, fill-in-the-blank. Meanwhile, don’t think the trip is so innocent; Anne’s husband (Alec Baldwin) warns her that Jacques is a Frenchman, after all. There is no conflict to speak of, just the lightest of flirting and sunny vistas easing the ennui of the wealthy and middle-aged. The fact that Paris Can Wait is the first-ever feature from Eleanor Coppola, the 81-yearold spouse of Francis Ford, is more interesting to consider than anything on screen. Her filmography comprises mostly making-of documentaries about Francis’ work, and she is quite adept at framing visuals that are already beautiful. The final product is too frivolous to really dislike; it’d be like getting upset at an Air France inflight magazine. PG. CHANCE SOLEMPFEIFER. Cinema 21.
Portland Horror Film Festival
Portland sure has a lot of horror film festivals. Here’s another. The second iteration of this three-day offering from the folks who brought you the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival hosts over 40 features and shorts from around the world, including Aaron Immediato’s Dickeaters, about vampires who—you guessed it—eat dicks. Hollywood Theatre, See portlandhorrorfilmfestival.com for tickets and schedule.
Portland Jewish Film Festival
The Portland Jewish Film Festival returns to the Northwest Film Center for the 25th year, showcasing films exploring Jewish perspectives that aren’t commonly seen in mainstream American film. Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, June 11-25. See nwfilm.org/calendar for full schedule.
Megan Leavey
With a more expressive star and a more experienced director, this Iraq War tale of a U.S. Marine and her German shepherd could have been more than what it is: a glossy, facile and TV-ready tribute to a heroic woman who deserves a much better movie. That woman is Megan Leavey (Kate Mara), who we watch crawl out of a cocoon of grief and become a handler for a bomb-sniffing canine named Rex. Yet, while the scenes where Rex literally sticks his nose into danger are harrowing enough to give dog owners anxiety attacks, Megan spends too much of the third act corralling the support she needs to adopt Rex—but as altruistic as her quest is, trying to collect signatures for a petition and bugging Chuck Schumer doesn’t equal compelling cinema. That said, the slack storytelling of director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) gets a lift from the scary yet noble Rex, who is played in most of his scenes by a dog named Varco. His “acting” puts the glumly wooden Mara to shame, which means anyone remaking Megan Leavey would do well to follow some simple instructions: Recast Megan, but keep the pooch. PG-13. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Tigard.
My Cousin Rachel
Spooky, sexy and gleefully menacing, this fresh rendition of Daphne du Maurier’s novel is a jolt of Halloween in June. It’s also a terrific showcase for its stars. Sam Claflin is Philip Ashley, a dunderhead lord of a coastal estate in Victorianera England who seeks vengeance against the cousin of title. Philip is convinced that she slaughtered the man who raised him, but his hunger for retribution evaporates when Rachel appears in the body of Rachel Weisz—dainty yet tall, pale yet powerful, she beguiles him into sacrificing both money and sanity, kicking off a sinister saga that is as much about Rachel’s sadism and Philip’s masochism as it is about a murder mystery. It’s also grand entertainment, thanks to well-measured suspense from director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) and the film’s greatest and most beautiful horror: Weisz’s performance. Mixing anguish and toughness, she effortlessly embodies a fearsome woman with a knack for seeming frail when it suits her—she’s terrifying when she rages at Philip for offering her money, only to humbly apologize for her outburst and pocket the dough anyway. And while a muddled conclusion robs Rachel of her potency, Michell and Weisz make the journey there, too, delightfully nasty to resist. PG-13. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bridgeport.
Sunday Night Salad
Hosted by Portland filmmaker, Oregon State University football enthusiast and sports radio producer Alex Crawford, Sunday Night Salad is a goofy talk show web series, now back for its third season. Episode one of the new season features an interview with and performance by Portland rock band Snow Rollers, plus a visit to an Oregon Coast ghost town and a guide to strip club etiquette. You may or may not see me in one of this season’s episodes. Stream Sunday Night Salad on makingnewenemies.com or YouTube.
Wonder Woman
For every fan hoping the third chapter of DC’s Extended Universe might leap beyond the dour brutalism infecting prior installments (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman), early news that Wonder Woman would be set around the killing fields of WWI couldn’t have felt encouraging. Sure, there’s a playful spark to opening scenes of our clay-born demi-goddess’ wonder years upon Paradise Island, where the grass is green, the girls are pretty Amazon warriors, and there’s an undeniable thrill to her subsequent meetcute with man’s world when Princess Diana (Gal Gadot) prevents a German patrol from pursuing downed pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) across the enchanted beachhead. By the time we reach the Western Front with Trevor’s rag-tag secret agent squad, Patty Jenkins (Monster) has so deftly juggled period rom-com and epic fantasy elements that even trench warfare barely dampens the momentum. And, as Wonder Woman throws off her coat to reveal Hellenicarmor-meets-Savile Row costuming to rush the machine-gun nest aglow in joyous bloodlust, the action feels breathtaking and ballsy and genuinely new. Flashing coquettish and imperious beneath a hyper-focused swagger, Gadot binds a star athlete’s restless confidence alongside the studied worldliness teased by a very clever child. Lest we forget, Wonder Woman was dreamt up as a children’s tale generations ago, and the character retains childlike qualities. Her film, blessedly, does not. PG-13. JAY HORTON. Bagdad, Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Cinemagic Theatre, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Lloyd, Moreland, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Roseway, St. Johns Twin Cinema & Pub, Tigard, Vancouver.
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PAIRING NATURAL WINE AND FINE OREGON CANNABIS BY JO R DA N M I C H E L M A N
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In Portland, there’s no more zeitgeist-y union of substances than the one between delicious natural wine and green mother cannabis. By natural wine, we mean wine made with minimal intervention in the cellar, ideally using grapes grown organically or biodynamically, and with fewer additives like sugar or sulfites. It might seem like this is how all wine is made—after all, wine labels don’t contain ingredient lists—but I assure you, a lot of the commercial wine on the market has more ingredients than a pack of Ding Dongs. Natural (or natural-ish) wines serve as a kind of counterpoint to the massproduced wines so commonly produced in America, and Oregon is a real hotbed for natural-leaning winemakers right now, which we’ve profiled at length here at WW. But how, then, does wine hang out with cannabis, Oregon’s other great natural resource? Neither one is strictly an upper or a downer, and both can make you feel buzzed, stoked, chilled or checked out in equal measure. But when done mindfully, a cannabis and delicious wine pairing offers an unrivaled spectrum of flavor experiences. Andrea Occhipinti “Alea Rosa” paired with Jesus OG Tincture by Cascadia Herbals at Portland Best Buds Start your journey with a floral, complex Italian rosé ($25 at vineyardgate.com) that already naturally evokes cannabis tincture in its flavor profile. Andrea Occhipinti makes beautiful wines on the slopes of Lake Bolsena, an hour or so north of Rome. Producing just 15,000 bottles annually, Occhipinti is known for his pioneering work reviving the oft-overlooked Aleatico grape. Good rosé—not the ice-cold plonk we’ve all chugged on a hot summer day—can evoke a field of spring flowers, cool breezes and complex flavor memories. So, too, can dank tincture, and Cascadia Herbals makes some of the most delicious tinc in Oregon, concentrating on not just the THC, but also the terpenes. Radikon “Jakot” orange wine with Purple Wreck flower from Serra Cannabis Wine is supposed to be red, white or pink. Weed is supposed to be, y’know, green. But what if we just said “fuck it” and drank and smoked our way through the outer reaches of the color spectrum? I invite you to do so with this pairing, which takes an iconic orange wine from master Osla-
vian producer Stanko Radikon (RIP), and pairs it with CGC certified Purple Wreck flower. The wine comes from the grape Tocai Friulano ($46 from Division Wines), vinified with skins on for up to 40 months in barrels. The result is a deep amber orange with heaps of dry pucker fruit, like almonds and Turkish apricots. It is an absolute mindfuck of a genre defining wine and a must for budding wine geeks. Purple Wreck offers lots of sweetness and lots of funk—Wreck is a hybrid of Purple Urkle and Trainwreck—with a grassy, barnyard note throughout the smoke that pairs nicely with the wine. Smock Shop Band “Atavus” Gewurztraminer with Gron Chocolate Macadamia Nut bar from Kings of Canna Pairing edibles with wine feels fairly obvious—At a recent tasting at Liner & Elsen, I was blown away by this multi-year solera Gewurztraminer ($69.99) from Smock Shop Band, the buzzy new wine label from Hiyu Wine Farm out in the Gorge. This wine, holy shit, is like a big, unfolding flavor bomb of sweet and savory flavors, big round oranges and crisp acidic lemons, with heaps of depth from the multi-year process and an underlying piquant freshness. To pair it with a smokable would be chill, but my mind is on the lovely macadamia milk chocolate bar from Gron. If you’re enjoying Atavus as a last glass of the night, or drinking it at the end of a tasting, the contrasting sweet and round flavors from the chocolate hang out and morph with the wine notes nicely. Swick Wines “Rosé of Pinot Noir Pétillant Naturel” with Pachecos Stryder ciga-weed by Eco Firma Joe Swick is a fifth generation Oregonian, born and raised in Portland, and it feels only right to shout out his wines here. We’re reaching new levels of zeitgeist fuckery with this pairing of a rosé pet-nat with a cigarette filter-tipped Pacheco joint. Swick’s rosé pet-nat ($25 from Park Avenue Fine Wines) is a bottlefermented sparkling wine very much en vogue right now. Pachecos are available in packs of three and five. “Portland French” is a fallacy, but here we are: the sun, she eez shining and the wine, it flows like wine. A cigarette pour vous, of course, mai oui. But not any ordinary cigarette—this is a cigarette of weed, mon frere. Take a sip, take a puff and embrace the ennui.
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W W S TA F F
BY N a t e Wa g g o n e r
The Big German Part III BY DR. MITCHELL MILLAR
Over the last two installments of Ye Olde Portland, I told you about the Big German who terrorized the cyclists of early Portland’s Union Avenue. Though the story of the menace of the Big German and the plot hatched by the cyclists to hire an amateur pugilist, a Swede, to confront him and give him a dose of his own medicine was reported in The Oregonian, the outcome was not. The German turned out to be Austrian, and rather than fight him, the Swede tried talking to him. We now resume the story… The Agile Swede trailed the Big Austrian, pulling his rickety bicycle through the tall grass. In the distance, there was a small wooden building that looked like a toolshed. In fact, it was the tiny shack where the Big Austrian lived. The shack was sweltering and there was a peculiar potpourri. On the wall was a shelf that stored jars of vegetables soaking in brine: carrots, wild onions, radishes, cabbage. The Austrian explained that when he was a boy, there was a German delicatessen that made pickles a certain way, but after his father moved him to Oregon, he had been unable to find a decent approximation. “Portland is a very bad place for pickles,” he said. The Swede asked where he lived when he was a boy, and the Austrian answered. “Pittsburgh. My father poured steel in a foundry and one day came home with tears in his eyes. A good friend had gotten drunk and fallen into one of the vats. He decided steel was too dangerous, and if he remained in the profession he risked making me an orphan.” The Big Austrian’s father became a lumberjack—a trade no less dangerous than steel. “My father passed a few years ago following a battle with a certain festive tree parasite that entered his bloodstream through the wood in his teeth.” “Words cannot describe the horror and helplessness you feel as you watch bunches of little berries sprout from your father’s appendages.” The Swede gained the courage to tell the Austrian why he was there that day. “I came here to challenge you to a fight. As retribution for your antagonism toward the bicyclists of Portland. They chose me because I am a trained pugilist known for my fighting ability. Though you are much larger than me, I have no doubt I would have defeated you—” The Big Austrian leapt at him with feline agility, armed himself with a jar of pickles off the shelf and cracked the Swede in the head. Everything went dark for the Swede. Several days later, he awoke on the floor. From the corner of the shack, the Austrian’s blue eyes glared icily. “I apologize. I do not like to fight, but that last thing you said was very smug and I couldn’t help myself. Now, where were we? I wanted you to know that I do not have any animus toward bicyclists in particular. I simply do not sleep well in my house because the smell of vinegar keeps me awake. So, I sometimes sleep in the road. I have found it a very peaceful place, though recently bicyclists have been passing through the area. Sometimes, they startle me awake. I might sometimes come across as an ogre when that happens.” The Austrian and the Swede reached an understanding, and spent the rest of the afternoon collaborating on a system that would hopefully put an end to bicyclists interrupting people trying to nap in the road. The edges of the road would be painted with designated “napping lanes,” which bicyclists should not cross. As we know, things didn’t work out exactly like that. Though the Swede tried to explain how the napping lanes were supposed to work, when encountered in the wild the cyclists tended to be flummoxed. Rather than avoid the napping lanes, they would often go out of their way to ride inside them. This further inflamed tempers and led to many altercations. 52
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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Alemayehu B. Mekonnen has been appointed personal representative. All persons having claims against the estate are required to present them to the personal representative at the law office of Bassinger & Harvey, Attn: Randy J. Harvey, 5 Centerpointe Drive, Suite 400, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035 within four months after the date of first publication of this notice, or the claims may be barred. All persons whose rights may be affected by the proceedings may obtain additional information from the records of the court, the personal representative or the attorney for the personal representative, Randy J. Harvey, Bassinger & Harvey, 5 Centerpointe Drive, Suite 400, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035. Date first published : 5/24/17
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Across 1 Be furious 5 Everglades beasts 11 Letters on a bucket 14 High hair 15 Home state of the Decemberists 16 Former Fighting Irish coach Parseghian 17 A look inside Mr. Gladwell? 19 Dorm supervisors, briefly 20 “The magic word” 21 Do bar duty 22 “The Two Towers”
creature 23 Like a cooked noodle 25 Medium capacity event? 27 “Yeah!” singer 30 Busy ___ bee 33 Song with the lyric “she really shows you all she can” 34 Author Harper 35 By title, though not really 38 “Let me know” letters 41 ___ Khan 42 It shows the order
of songs a band will play 44 Disney Store collectible 45 Force based on waves? 47 Top-of-the-line 48 Took a course? 49 Orangey tuber 51 Gridiron units, for short 52 Run off, as copies 54 Compadre from way back 57 Diplomat’s forte 59 Kickoff need 60 The haves and the
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28 Maker of the Saturn game system 29 Weighty river triangle? 31 Type of bar with pickled beets 32 In the center of 36 Battery terminal, briefly 37 Suffix similar to “-speak” 39 President’s refusal 40 Suffix for movie theaters 43 Common campaign promise 46 Talk too much 50 It may be also called a “murse” 53 One of their recent ads features “an investor invested in vests” 54 Different 55 Tenant’s document 56 Almost ready for the Tooth Fairy 58 Parcels of land 61 “Ed Sullivan Show” character ___ Gigio 62 Racetrack trouble 64 Winter forecast 65 Eye rakishly 66 Breaks down 69 “Able was I ___ I saw Elba”
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Week of June 8
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
If you chose me as your relationship guide, I’d counsel you and your closest ally to be generous with each other; to look for the best in each other and praise each other’s beauty and strength. If you asked me to help foster your collaborative zeal, I’d encourage you to build a shrine in honor of your bond -- an altar that would invoke the blessings of deities, nature spirits, and the ancestors. If you hired me to advise you on how to keep the fires burning and the juices flowing between you two, I’d urge you to never compare your relationship to any other, but rather celebrate the fact that it’s unlike any other in the history of the planet.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
The Milky Way Galaxy contains more than 100 billion stars. If they were shared equally, every person on Earth could have dominion over at least 14. I mention this because you’re in a phase when it makes sense for you to claim your 14. Yes, I’m being playful, but I’m also quite serious. According to my analysis of the upcoming weeks, you will benefit from envisaging big, imaginative dreams about the riches that could be available to you in the future. How much money do you want? How much love can you express? How thoroughly at home in the world could you feel? How many warm rains would you like to dance beneath? How much creativity do you need to keep reinventing your life? Be extravagant as you fantasize.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
“When I grow up, I’m not sure what I want to be.” Have you ever heard that thought bouncing around your mind, Gemini? Or how about this one: “Since I can’t decide what I want to be, I’ll just be everything.” If you have been tempted to swear allegiance to either of those perspectives, I suggest it’s time to update your relationship with them. A certain amount of ambivalence about commitment and receptivity to myriad possibilities will always be appropriate for you. But if you hope to fully claim your birthright, if you long to ripen into your authentic self, you’ll have to become ever-more definitive and specific about what you want to be and do.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
As a Cancerian myself, I’ve had days when I’ve stayed in bed from morning to nightfall, confessing my fears to my imaginary friends and eating an entire cheesecake. As an astrologer, I’ve noticed that these blue patches seem more likely to occur during the weeks before my birthday each year. If you go through a similar blip any time soon, here’s what I recommend: Don’t feel guilty about it. Don’t resist it. Instead, embrace it fully. If you feel lazy and depressed, get REALLY lazy and depressed. Literally hide under the covers with your headphones on and feel sorry for yourself for as many hours as it takes to exhaust the gloom and emerge renewed.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
In the early days of the Internet, “sticky” was a term applied to websites that were good at drawing readers back again and again. To possess this quality, a content provider had to have a knack for offering text and images that web surfers felt an instinctive yearning to bond with. I’m reanimating this term so I can use it to describe you. Even if you don’t have a website, you now have a soulful adhesiveness that arouses people’s urge to merge. Be discerning how you use this stuff. You may be stickier than you realize!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Ancient Mayans used chili and magnolia and vanilla to prepare exotic chocolate drinks from cacao beans. The beverage was sacred and prestigious to them. It was a centerpiece of cultural identity and an accessory in religious rituals. In some locales, people were rewarded for producing delectable chocolate with just the right kind and amount of froth. I suspect, Virgo, that you will soon be asked to do the equivalent of demonstrating your personal power by whipping up the best possible chocolate froth. And according to my reading of the astrological omens, the chances are good you’ll succeed.
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Do you have your visa for the wild side? Have you packed your bag of tricks? I hope you’ll bring gifts to dispense, just in case you’ll need to procure favors in the outlying areas where the rules are a bit loose. It might also be a good idea to take along a skeleton key and a snake-bite kit. You won’t necessarily need them. But I suspect you’ll be offered magic cookies and secret shortcuts, and it would be a shame to have to turn them down simply because you’re unprepared for the unexpected.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
You’re like a prince or princess who has been turned into a frog by the spell of a fairy tale villain. This situation has gone on for a while. In the early going, you retained a vivid awareness that you had been transformed. But the memory of your origins has faded, and you’re no longer working so diligently to find a way to change back into your royal form. Frankly, I’m concerned. This horoscope is meant to remind you of your mission. Don’t give up! Don’t lose hope! And take extra good care of your frog-self, please.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
People might have ideas about you that are at odds with how you understand yourself. For example, someone might imagine that you have been talking trash about them -- even though you haven’t been. Someone else may describe a memory they have about you, and you know it’s a distorted version of what actually happened. Don’t be surprised if you hear even more outlandish tales, too, like how you’re stalking Taylor Swift or conspiring with the One World Government to force all citizens to eat kale every day. I’m here to advise you to firmly reject all of these skewed projections. For the immediate future, it’s crucial to stand up for your right to define yourself -- to be the final authority on what’s true about you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
“God doesn’t play dice with the universe,” said Albert Einstein. In response, another Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Niels Bohr, said to Einstein, “Stop giving instructions to God.” I urge you to be more like Bohr than Einstein in the coming weeks, Capricorn. As much as possible, avoid giving instructions to anyone, including God, and resist the temptation to offer advice. In fact, I recommend that you abstain from passing judgment, demanding perfection, and trying to compel the world to adapt itself to your definitions. Instead, love and accept everything and everyone exactly as they are right now.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Lysistrata is a satire by ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It takes place during the war between Athens and Sparta. The heroine convinces a contingent of women to withhold sexual privileges from the soldiers until they stop fighting. “I will wear my most seductive dresses to inflame my husband’s ardor,” says one. “But I will never yield to his desires. I won’t raise my legs towards the ceiling. I will not take up the position of the Lioness on a Cheese Grater.” Regardless of your gender, Aquarius, your next assignment is twofold: 1. Don’t be like the women in the play. Give your favors with discerning generosity. 2. Experiment with colorful approaches to pleasure like the Lioness with a Cheese Grater, the Butterfly Riding the Lizard, the Fox Romancing the River, and any others you can dream up.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
Take your seasick pills. The waves will sometimes be higher than your boat. Although I don’t think you’ll capsize, the ride may be wobbly. And unless you have waterproof clothes, it’s probably best to just get naked. You WILL get drenched. By the way, don’t even fantasize about heading back to shore prematurely. You have good reasons to be sailing through the rough waters. There’s a special “fish” out there that you need to catch. If you snag it, it will feed you for months -maybe longer.
AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL OREGONIANS – AN OPINION PIECE
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act – A Seriously Flawed Piece of Legislation A Call for Analysis, Public Debate and Legislative Review Tolle and Teno in a recent New England Journal of Medicine Sounding Board discuss the unusually high percentage of elderly patients in Oregon that die at home or use hospice in comparison to the other states.(1) The medical browser might assume that this is the result of Oregon’s well known Death with Dignity Act (DWDA). Unfortunately that is not the case. Oregon’s current physician assisted death legislation is seriously flawed and has been unevenly implemented.
some of the 166 suicide victims would have chosen a gentler method to exit this world if one was accessible.
In 1994 Oregon voters passed the DWDA and this was first implemented in 1997 following defeat of a repeal ballot initiative. The law has been successfully used, has not been abused and has been copied in Washington, California, Colorado, DC, and Vermont. With passage of the law Oregonians assumed they could peacefully end their lives on their own terms when pain, disability and loss of dignity became too much to bear. Unfortunately this is the case for only a small subset of patients – namely those already moribund with metastatic cancer.
Furthermore, the DWDA is highly discriminatory. The Oregon Health Division reports (2015) that 96.2% of 132 patients self-ingesting a lethal dose were white and 50% had a baccalaureate degree. Zero African-American and only four Hispanic patients were included in the 132.(5) In the first 18 years only one African-American was included in the cohort of 1,127 patients who successfully ended their lives.(5)
The law rightly protects the frail elderly and the chronically ill from coercion and abuse. However, the administrative details put in place to protect patients preclude its use by the majority of those who would seek its comfort. Namely, 1.The patient must make two oral requests to their treating physician spaced two weeks apart. In addition one request in writing must be submitted. 2.To qualify for a lethal prescription two physicians must certify in writing that the patient’s certain prognosis is six months or less. 3.Two letters certifying the patient’s mental competence must be submitted and one of these must be from a person unrelated to the patient. 4.The lethal dose must be self-ingested.(2) This administrative burden precludes use of the law by most chronically and severely ill individuals who must have help from family or friends. Oregon ballot measure 16 which was passed by referendum in 1994 and sustained in 1997contained no language requiring a less than six month prognosis nor did it mention a second physician consultant.(3) However, the 1994 Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet did include the full text of the proposed law including the two items mentioned above. The 1994 Oregon ballot read: “16. ALLOWS TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS TO OBTAIN PRESCRIPTION FOR LETHAL DRUGS QUESTION: Shall law allow terminally ill adult patients voluntary informed choice to obtain physician’s prescription for drugs to end life?” The current version of the DWDA has survived numerous federal and state court challenges and federal congressional opposition. In 2006 Oregon’s law was finally upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Gonzales v. Oregon. In addition to the challenges listed above, one of Oregon’s largest health plan employs hundreds of physicians who are prohibited from using the Death with Dignity Act by a provision in their employment contract. Consider also that the typical secobarbital USP prescription utilized by a DWDA patient costs ~$3,000.00.(4) Consider a 67 y/o woman who has been diabetic since age 11 and is blind and has suffered two lower extremity amputations. Despite her helplessness and loss of dignity she does not qualify because it is uncertain her life expectancy is less than six months. Or a 24 y/o male motorcyclist who is rendered quadriplegic by a severe accident. Not eligible to participate in DWDA because his prognosis is not less than six months and the lethal dose must be self-administered. Finally a 72 y/o widow with no family and suffering from severe chronic renal failure requiring hemodialysis. Despite her loneliness, dependency, loss of dignity and exhausted resources she is not eligible because her prognosis is not less than six months. The Oregon Health Division records and publishes data on utilization of the DWDA. In the year 2016, 78.9% of selfadministered lethal doses were ingested by patients with malignancy while amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and heart disease each represented 6.8% of patients. Only 21.1% of lethal doses were utilized by patients with a diagnosis other than cancer.(5) On the other hand in 2015 22.7% of deaths in Oregon were caused by cancer while 19.2% were secondary to cardiac disease. One has to conclude that the DWDA is heavily skewed toward those with advanced malignancy with lung, breast and colon leading the list.
Homework
In Oregon in 2015 there were 35,709 deaths with 27,246 (76%) of patients being age 65 or older. In the same year a mere 132 deaths were recorded secondary to physician assisted death. The median age of DWDA patients was 73 with 102 being age 65 or older. Thus only 0.37% (less than 1%) of elderly decedents were positively affected by the DWDA.(6)
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Suicide is not uncommon among the elderly and in 2014 166 Oregonians over age 65 committed classic suicide while 105 died by utilization of the Death with Dignity Act.(7, 8) The latter deaths are not classified as suicide. The primary methods of suicide were firearm, suffocation/hanging or poisoning with medicine or other toxic substance. Surely
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Considering that ~65% of Oregon deaths were at home or attended by hospice personnel one intuitively feels that the DWDA is not meeting its objective.(1) So dire is the situation of many declining patients that one well known web site lists “Voluntarily Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED)” as a possible end of life solution.(9)
In 2013, Eli Stutsman, an attorney and the lead author of Oregon’s DWDA, published an article detailing the legal and legislative history of the DWDA and commented on the increased use of hospice and death at home as noted by Tolle and Teno. (10,1) He concludes “Twenty years after we founded our political committee, we are in the midst of another Oregon summer, and the Oregon Death with Dignity Act is working as expected, with nothing new to report.” He fails to note that of the 77 patients who died under the auspices of DWDA in 2012, 75 were white with one Asian and one Hispanic. The great majority (75%) were ill with a malignant neoplasm and 43% had received a baccalaureate degree.(11) If the Death with Dignity Act is to meet its promise and treat all Oregonians fairly then changes must be incorporated so that patients with severe cardiac disease, complicated diabetes, COPD, chronic renal failure and neurodegenerative disorders can receive its benefit. Of interest is the fact that society has no qualms about achieving death with dignity for our 13-year-old cat with renal failure or our old Labrador whose arthritis confines him to his soiled bed. We have pet home euthanasia services that allow our old best friend to die in his favorite bed surrounded by his people. If only our human patients were always treated with such love, thoughtfulness and respect. What must be done to assure that the DWDA keeps its promise to Oregonians? 1.The Oregon legislature must simplify the patient application and modify or delete the “less than six months to live” requirement. In most cases of severe chronic illness the clinical course is difficult to predict. The requirement for a second physician opinion in the face of documented terminal illness needs to be debated. 2.The Oregon legislature must pass a law prohibiting employment contracts that require physicians not to utilize the DWDA. 3.The State must insure that an adequate supply of secobarbital USP is available at a reasonable price. If need be the State should join others and contract with a good manufacturing practice facility for noncommercial production. 4.An extensive educational program for health care practitioners and the lay public needs to be undertaken. The creation and dissemination of the Oregon POLST program by the Oregon Health and Science University Center of Ethics is an excellent example of the major effort required to honor a patient’s end of life wishes. The same must be done for the Death with Dignity Act.
References: 1. Tolle, S.W. and Teno, J.M. Lessons from Oregon in Embracing Complexity in End-of-LifeCare. N Engl J Med 2017; 376: 1078-1072. Visited 5/10/17 2.public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/ EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/requirements.pdf Visited 5/15/17 3.www.deathwithdignity.org/oregon-death-with-dignityact-history/ Visited5/16/17 4.Personal conversation with two senior Oregon licensed pharmacists. 5.public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year19. pdf Visited 5/16/17 6.public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year18. pdf Visited 5/12/17 7.public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/InjuryFatalityData/Documents/NVDRS/SummaryDataTablesByYear16. pdf Table 3B Visited 5/12/17 8.public.health.oregon.gov/BirthDeathCertificates/VitalStatistics/annualreports/Volume2/Documents/2014/ table633.pdf Visited 5/12/17 9 . w w w. c o m p a s s i o n a n d c h o i c e s . o r g / w p - c o n t e n t / uploads/2016/10/End-of-Life-Options-Dec.2016-1.pdf Visited 5/13/17 10.Stutsman,www.americanbar.org/publications/gp_ solo/2013/july_august/twenty_years_living_the_oregon_ death_dignity_act.html Visited 5/14/17 11.public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/ EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/ year15.pdf Visited 5/14/17
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