“BE MINDFUL OF THE CHILDREN. THEY ARE ALWAYS NEAR.” P. 19
NOW WIT
H LESS P OR TLA ND THAN EVER
!
OUR REGION’S BEST KOREAN FOOD CAN BE FOUND IN BEAVERTON. P. 27 THE WORLD’S LARGEST BOUNCE HOUSE IS COMING TO HILLSBORO.P. 19 A LOOK INTO WILLIE NELSON’S EARLY LIFE IN VANCOUVER, WA. P. 29 PORTLAND’S NEXT VIRAL RAP STAR IS FROM LAKE OSWEGO.” P. 31 WE ASKED, YOU ANSWERED: WHAT IS PORTLAND’S FAVORITE SUBURB? P. 18 PLUS!
NICKELBACK: NOT SO BAD? P. 30
FEATURE WWEEK.COM
VOL 43/44 08.30.2017
Judging Judy: Prosecutors’ decision to cripple
a judge’s career echoes a
larger battle over criminal justice reform in Oregon. BY KATIE SHEPHERD | PAGE 13
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Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
LIZ ALLAN
FINDINGS
PAGE 27
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER VOL. 43, ISSUE 44.
Keeping violent children with severe behavioral problems in regular classrooms results in the other kids being assaulted. 9 Portlanders are rallying to save a bodega in a parking garage. 10 A judge who sought to circumvent a state law so she could offer fourth chances to impaired drivers is very unpopular with prosecutors. 13
ON THE COVER:
Cully, Sellwood and St. Johns are some of your favorite suburbs. 18 Willie Nelson was hated by his co-workers in Vancouver. 29 Lake Oswego has a rapper. 32 Beaverton has a cool bar. 37
If you would like to see an art show that incorporates bacon, there is a place. 39
OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK:
Ara in Beaverton, by Christine Dong. The Simpsons screen grab, from Frinkiac.
Where to eat during Support Black-Owned Restaurants Week.
STAFF Editor & Publisher Mark Zusman EDITORIAL News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Martin Cizmar Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, Rachel Monahan, Katie Shepherd Copy Editors Matt Buckingham, Nicole Groessel Stage & Listings Editor Shannon Gormley Screen Editor Walker MacMurdo Projects Editor Matthew Korfhage
Music Editor Matthew Singer Web Editor Sophia June Editorial Interns Dana Alston, Max Denning, Elise Herron, Jessica Pollard PRODUCTION Creative Director Alyssa Walker Designers Tricia Hipps, Rosie Struve, Rick Vodicka Photography Interns Sofie Murray, Carleigh Oeth Design/Illustration Intern Elizabeth Allan, Ann Gray
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DIALOGUE Last week, WW wrote about a millennial named Andrew Jones who says his invention will dominate the cannabis concentrates industry, and his 73-yearold former mentor who says Jones is profiting from his invention (“Oil Wars,” WW, Aug. 23, 2017). Here’s what readers said. John Retzlaff, via wweek.com: “[JD] Ellis made the mistake of not patenting his process. Had he done so, he could still have freely distributed his technology for all to use. Just because you hold the patent doesn’t mean you have to make money from the technology, although it does ensure that you can block others from claiming it as theirs.”
Tyler Chastain, via Facebook: “It’s [people] like this kid who are ruining the cannabis business and holding it back the progress of the plant. Open source knowledge is how cannabis became the beautifully diverse species it is today, advancing breeding and evolving growing techniques where what a generation ago would be revolutionary thinking is common knowledge today.” Colby Judah, via Facebook: “Kinda Trumpy for someone who thinks he’s anti-establishment, Mr. Jones. So blind to altruism he’s patting himself on the back for ‘winning.’” Michelle Tafoya, via Facebook: “Gray Wolf is the inventor of closedloop extraction. This patent should be legally challenged.”
Sasha, in response: “The idea was “Kinda Trumpy not to profit, but rather to make for someone the technology freely available to who thinks patients who needed these valuable CORRECTIONS he’s anticannabis extracts before they were In an Aug. 9 review of a Dilly Bar by widely commercially available. establishment, Wiz Bang Bar, WW misrepresented Open-sourcing this technology on Mr. Jones.” the ownership of Uncle Nearest the internet was a noble endeavor Whiskey. The brand is indepenand a gift to the medical cannabis community in dently owned by Fawn and Keith Weaver. a world where most people seek to profit off of illLast week’s story on CBD (“CBD X3,” WW, Aug. 23, 2017) mistakenly called the Drug Enforcement ness and medicine.” Administration an “Agency.” Also, Dean Pottle’s JustChecking, via wweek.com: “Why is any- homebrew speakeasy was on Northeast Fremont one surprised that the cannabis industry attracts Street, not Northeast Killingsworth Street. WW regrets the errors. unsavory types?” Tony Trinh, via Facebook: “This is like Breaking Bad except Walter White doesn’t become Heisenberg and Jesse Pinkman is a thief and unredeemable shithead.”
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
Dr. Know BY MA RT Y SMIT H
As I look out the window on a moving TriMet train, I don’t see any seams in the rails on the opposite side. How did they lay those tracks as one very long piece instead of in sections? —The Railsplitter
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This is the sort of question that strikes terror into the hearts of my editors. The fear is that the answer is so simple—something like, say, “They weld the joints, knucklehead”—that it can be answered in a trice, while still leaving roughly 319 words free for a blow-by-blow account of my thoughts on the partition of Belgium. But fear not! While it’s true they do weld the joints (comma, knucklehead), this is only the beginning of the story. In fact, if the tale ended there, you’d all be dead in a series of massive railway accidents. Continuous welded rail, or CWR, was a great innovation of the 20th century, making the ride smoother and the tracks stronger and less prone to failure. The challenge, however, is that steel rails expand and contract as the ambient temperature rises and falls. This wasn’t a problem back when rails were laid in short sections. But a continuous welded rail several miles long with nowhere to go would—left to itself—shrink to the point
of snapping like a guitar string when cold and expand in hot conditions until it buckled sideways. The solution is to lay the tracks at a medium temperature and fasten them tightly to sturdy ties, like a partially stretched elastic string stapled to a board. The track remains under tension when cold and under compression when warm, but it stays put under most conditions, depending on the range of temperature variation (see “Dr. Know: How Come the MAX Has to Slow Down Every Time the Temperature Gets Over 90 Degrees?,” WW, Aug. 31, 2016). Of course, if you want to lay rail in cold weather, you need to either physically stretch it to the medium-temperature length using a giant hydraulic machine—which is pretty cool— or warm it up by laying a flaming, gasolinesoaked rope along its entire length, which is almost absurdly badass. Science! QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com
Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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Hicks Could Be Oregon’s Next U.S. Attorney
Nearly nine months after President Donald J. Trump took office and more than two years after former U.S. Attorney for Oregon Amanda Marshall resigned, there is no nominee for the state’s top federal law enforcement post. Sources in the legal community say Oregon House Minority Leader Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte) is no longer the front-runner for the job. Instead, the White House is considering interim U.S. Attorney Billy Williams and former state Rep. Wally Hicks (R-Grants Pass). Hicks is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a veteran of the Iraq war, a former prosecutor and currently the elected legal counsel for Josephine County. Asked if he is under consideration, Hicks tells WW, “That’s accurate to my knowledge.” Williams’ office declined comment.
Anti-Freeway Campaign Launches in Portland
A new coalition called “No More Freeway Expansions” is asking the Portland City Council to kill a proposed $450 million widening of Interstate 5 between the Fremont Bridge and I-84. At least 18 groups, including the Audubon Society of Portland and 350PDX, have signed a letter that says the mostly state-funded project is inconsistent with Portland’s climate policy and Vision Zero, which aims to end traffic fatalities by boosting safety on the city’s most dangerous streets. “We believe this project will have little impact on congestion,” the letter reads, “and the safety benefit will largely be in avoiding crashes that result in property damage or minor injuries.”
Last week, an arbitrator gave former Oregon Department of Justice investigator Jim Williams his job back. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum fired Williams last year after she determined he had improperly used an online surveillance tool to track DOJ civil rights director Erious Johnson. The arbitrator found Williams had not received proper training and was simply following orders—orders about which he had expressed reservations. In a statement, Rosenblum (who is married to Richard Meeker, co-owner of WW’s parent company) says she’s disappointed by the decision. GABRIEL GREEN
426 SE GRAND AVE. PORTLAND, OR. 97214 NEXTADVENTURE.NET 503.233.0706
ACLU supporters rally.
Clackamas County DA Decries ACLU Advocacy
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon touched a nerve when it launched a new campaign aimed at alerting voters to the powerful position DAs play in the criminal justice system (see story on page 13). Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote responded Aug. 29 with harsh words, saying the state’s leading advocate for civil rights had transformed into a “radical political action committee.” Foote says the campaign’s timing—an election cycle for some district attorneys in Oregon is about to kick off—and its proximity to partisan races is inappropriate for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. ACLU of Oregon executive director David Rogers denies any impropriety. “DAs like him are so unaccustomed to the idea that they would and should be held accountable that the very idea sends him off the rails,” Rogers says. “Guess what? That’s democracy.”
NEWS
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK
ELEVATED NITIN RAI CREATED AN INVESTMENT FUND TO ASSIST PORTLAND STARTUPS LED BY WOMEN AND MINORITIES. IT’S WORKING. BY TH ACH E R S CH MID
NITIN RAI
@thacherschmid
When Portland financier Nitin Rai established the Elevate Inclusive Fund in 2016 to invest in minorityand female-owned startups, people were skeptical he’d find attractive opportunities in Portland. He’s already found 14. “What we’ve shown is that there is a pipeline of really good startups that are women-led and minority-led that are investable,” says Rai, the fund’s managing director. Together, the companies Rai has invested in now employ 198 people, 78 percent minority and 70 percent women. Ten of the 14 are led by female CEOs or co-founders, Rai says. Seven are Latino or black. Three are veterans.
The fund closes to investors Sept. 15, with a total of $2.3 million: $1.5 million in public funds, and $800 million in private capital from local investors. Rai’s Elevate Capital is leveraging another $1.5 million in “follow-on” investments. Rai says winning over private investment turned out to be “quite difficult.” “People consider this high-risk,” he says. “They don’t want to take a risk on minorities and women.” In all, Elevate Inclusive Fund has invested $650,000 in its startups to date, Rai says. Every dollar invested in its 14 fledgling companies, he says, has brought 20 times the money through other sources. “We serve as a catalyst and a validator,” Rai says. “These entrepreneurs are just blowing it out of the water.”
PAULA HAYES, CEO OF HUE NOIR
LILI YEO, CEO OF GOUMIKIDS
I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y R O S I E S T R U V E
SEVEN COMPANIES IN WHICH ELEVATE HAS INVESTED:
HUE NOIR
GOUMIKIDS
BLENDOOR
HEMEX HEALTH
GARDEN BAR
By the time Rai told Hue Noir CEO Paula Hayes that Elevate Inclusive Fund was investing in her startup last year, Hayes had grown frustrated by the constant need to educate white male investors who dominate venture capital about her product. Her company produces makeup for “nuanced” skin tones—like Hayes’ own “milk chocolate.” Hayes is a savvy marketer and a research chemist, but most investors couldn’t see how her vision fills a gap for women of color. “They always came back and said, ‘I’m so sorry, I just can’t get this passed,’” Hayes recalls. So when Rai delivered the good news in 2016, Hayes could barely keep her cool. “I thought what!? I didn’t tell them, but I just said, ‘Oh my God, this is happening!’” T h e $ 5 0,0 0 0 i nv e s t m e n t from fund has been followed by $100,000 from other investors, and the Beaverton company now sells on Amazon.
The CEO of this natural organic babywear company, Lili Yeo, says being an immigrant, a mom and a female entrepreneur led to an isolating tendency to DIY everything. “We really did try to bootstrap everything, because we thought that the growth was going to be on our shoulders,” recalls Yeo. More valuable than the $50,000 Elevate invested, Yeo says, has been Rai’s mentoring and “opening the Rolodex.” “ You’re seeing more women and minorities coming to the fore than ever before,” Yeo says. “And yet there’s a disparity in access to capital.”
Blendoor’s job-matching technology counteracts unconscious bias in the application process by withholding information such as a candidate’s name and photo. In other words, it tries to level the playing field for job seekers. CEO Stephanie Lampkin told Forbes that its “blendscore,” which ranks tech companies on diversity, “will be for companies what the U.S. News & World Report is for colleges and universities.”
Hemex’s Magneto-Optical Detector is the size of a shoebox and costs $500 to make. The company says it can determine in a minute if a drop of blood contains malaria parasites, or sickle cell disease. It “could revolutionize how malaria is detected,” Smithsonian.com says. CEO Patti White’s company just landed $1.7 million to continue developing its tech, Geekwire reports.
Its mission is “giving the underrated salad the love and respect it deserves.” The company prioritizes local and organic ingredients. Garden Bar now has seven locations in Portland, and CEO Ana Chaud plans to open another eight.
WILDFANG This clothing company’s genderbending streetwear offers hip styles and raised middle fingers. Led by CEO Emma Mcilroy, its “Wild Feminist” T-shirt has been worn by top actors, was allegedly stolen by Forever 21, and has paved the way for investments of $1.75 million.
HUBB
The other seven companies are: RFPIO, Agricool, Versi, Heritage Laboratories, Rezi, Scout Military and Curadite.
CEO Allie Magyar used to run some of the biggest events in the tech industry, the company’s website says, but struggled with the “sea of spreadsheets and emails it took to make things go.” So she helped start Hubb, whose products streamline and speed up event planning and increase attendance. Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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NEWS SAM GEHRKE
“THE TEACHERS DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT. AFTER THAT, EVERYONE WAS TRYING TO MAKE SURE THEY DIDN’T GET THEMSELVES IN TROUBLE.” —NICK PRUETT
PUSHED ASIDE: Sébastien Pruett, in 49ers jersey, was violently bullied at Woodlawn Elementary. His parents, Sherly Paul-Pruitt and Nick Pruett, say Portland Public Schools failed to adequately respond.
Child’s Play A 4-YEAR-OLD WAS REPEATEDLY ATTACKED BY A CLASSMATE. PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS DIDN’T STOP THE BULLYING. BY RACHEL MONAHAN
rmonahan@wweek.com
A few weeks after Sébastien Pruett, then 4, began school last fall, a classmate attacked him, bending his finger back and slapping his face hard enough that Sébastien shrieked. The other child didn’t understand it was Sébastien’s turn on the slide, according to an email from his prekindergarten teacher at Woodlawn Elementary School at 7200 NE 11th Ave. Sébastien quickly recovered, and his parents initially brushed off the incident. But they say it was only the first of seven violent scuffles—all instigated by the same 4-year-old boy. Beginning in late January, the attacks escalated: Sébastien was choked by the classmate at least three times in the space of a few weeks. Sébastien started having nightmares. “He dreamed the boy threw him out the window,” says his mother, Sherly Paul-Pruett. “He started wetting the bed.” As school gets underway this week, the Pruetts’ quest to get Portland Public Schools to keep their son safe at school highlights what critics say is a chronic problem for the district—a failure to address parent complaints in a systemic and effective way. “State and federal law require that all Oregon schools keep students safe from bullying,” says Mat dos Santos, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which is investigating the Pruetts’ case. “Community activists and families have identified numerous
situations that seem to point to a problem with PPS’s ability to protect children of color, or to treat them fairly when it comes to discipline.” PPS, like many school districts across the country, has long struggled to establish school disciplinary policies that don’t disproportionately punish minority children. While there’s no evidence race played a decisive factor in this case, Sébastien is biracial; the other child is black, the Pruetts say. “The teachers didn’t know how to handle it,” says Nick Pruett, Sébastien’s father. “After that, everyone was trying to make sure they didn’t get themselves in trouble.” The district disputes that characterization of what happened. “We can’t discuss details of this case,” says PPS spokesman Harry Esteve. “We can say that we have made every effort to resolve this, including the direct involvement of the interim superintendent at the time. Part of our mission as a public school district is to ensure every child who walks through our doors has an equal opportunity for success no matter their background.” Privacy laws restrict what the district can disclose. However, the Pruetts’ correspondence with the district, which the family shared with WW, makes clear that Sébastien was repeatedly attacked in incidents that went far beyond playground roughhousing. During recess in late January, the classmate choked, hit and scratched Sébastien. In the days that followed, the child choked him again in a conflict over who should get to sit on the teacher’s lap during reading time, Sébastien’s parents say. A third choking at recess left a red mark on
Sébastien’s neck after the boy slammed Sébastien to the ground. Nick Pruett met with the teacher. He says she told him she didn’t know how to deal with the other child. The situation was complicated by the fact the boy has special education needs. The Pruetts were told this, but little more. The Pruetts say they suspect the other child’s needs weren’t being met either. “We had to be the ones to suggest that maybe this child needed someone in the class to assist him,” Sherly PaulPruett said in April 19 testimony to the School Board. A grandfather of the other boy declined to discuss the series of incidents. He disagrees, though, with the Pruetts’ assessment of the school. “I think they do a good job of taking care of every child,” he says, speaking on condition of anonymity. In early March, the parents met with Woodlawn Principal Andrea Porter-Lopez, and she agreed to place an additional adult in the classroom. But there were three more confrontations, two of them violent. On March 23, an assistant principal was in the room when Sébastien was “slammed to the ground, mounted, and held down until a teacher had to physically remove the other boy,” Nick Pruett later wrote. Sébastien left school after that. The principal offered the Pruetts two choices for what to do next, they say. The first: The school could add another staff member permanently to the classroom. Adding adults to the classroom, the Pruetts say, had already been tried and failed. There was a second option: move their son to another school. But the Pruetts stood by the principle that their son shouldn’t have to move. “It is unacceptable to force a victim of bullying to leave their school in order to be kept safe,” says the ACLU’s dos Santos. The family sought help from a senior PPS director, the district ombudsman and the School Board. (The senior director presented them with a third option, they say: Sébastien could move to the kindergarten class at the school for the remainder of the year. But kindergarten was a nonstarter, because their son would still have to share recess with the other boy.) “I think they’re doing the other boy a disfavor,” Sherly testified April 19 after her son had been out of school for nearly a month. “Right now, if [the boy] does this, he’s 4, but in 10 years, when he’s 14, 15, they’re calling the cops on him. I want both children to get what they deserve.” The Pruetts say no one explained why school officials couldn’t move the boy who’d attacked Sébastien. PPS officials appear never to have disputed that there was a problem. But they didn’t find a solution that worked for the Pruetts. Ultimately, Interim Superintendent Bob McKean wrote a letter responding to their formal complaint but declining to present any new options. The School Board is preparing to review the district’s complaint process, but the Pruetts believe the real problem is that the district’s bureaucracy protects its own. “No one holds them accountable,” says Nick. This year, Sébastien will begin school at a publicly funded, privately run charter school in Portland, hoping for a fresh start. “It’s not like he used to be about it,” Nick says. “Before, it was all he talked about: ‘When do I get to go back?’” Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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DANIEL STINDT
NEWS
WHISTLE STOP: Peterson’s convenience store has attracted a colorful clientele since it opened in 1984 along the MAX line, then under construction.
No Longer Convenient FOR THREE DECADES, PETERSON’S HELPED DEFINE DOWNTOWN. CITY-FUNDED GENTRIFICATION COULD PUT THE CONVENIENCE STORE OUT OF BUSINESS. BY JESSICA POLLA R D
503-243-2122
The odor of urine wafts from the parking garage stairwell at Southwest 10th Avenue and Morrison Street on a summer night in Portland. Vacationers in pressed clothing and rolling elegant luggage hop on and off the MAX train, dodging the young troubadours who loiter outside of Peterson’s, a venerable convenience store at 922 SW Morrison St. Middle-aged men rattle by on skateboards, cigarettes dangling. Panhandlers claim they’ll settle for human contact, displaying a “Hugs 4 Hugs” sign. For more than 30 years, Peterson’s has been a magnet for MAX riders, transients, and anybody who needs cigarettes, beer or the current hot seller: 99-cent fountain drinks, “any size.” “We’re not fancy,” says owner Doug Peterson. “We’re selling the needs that people need. And we’re very popular.” But Peterson’s Morrison Street location (he owns three other stores elsewhere in the city) could soon be just a memory. The city’s urban renewal agency, Prosper Portland, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation are preparing to renovate the city-owned Yamhill SmartPark garage, which houses Peterson’s on the ground floor. Peterson’s loyalists think the city wants the store gone. If that happens, they say a gritty slice of the city’s identity will be lost. Ray Tillotson, who for decades ran Ray’s Ragtime, a consignment shop near Peterson’s, got priced out of downtown last year. He says the city’s west end is losing its flavor. “It was a very vibrant little neighborhood,” Tillotson says. “It’s been a gradual exodus for the past 30 years.” Peterson’s helped shape a generation of Portlanders, even as it faced opposition from city bureaus. In 2008, the upscale clothier Brooks Brothers moved into the Galleria mall across the street. The company’s clientele and Peterson’s were not the same. “I fail to see why a disgusting store such as Peterson’s is able to stay open,” an assistant manager of Brooks Brothers emailed then-Mayor Sam Adams. “It caters to the dregs of society.” 10
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The store survived the pressure, but the threat is more serious now. Every business in the Yamhill garage will have to vacate starting January 2018 for a yearlong, $25 million renovation. Prosper Portland plans to divide the building ’s ground-floor retail spaces, like the one Peterson’s occupies, into smaller storefronts with lower rent for businesses owned by women and people of color. One of the agency’s goals for the renovation is to “improve the environment at the ground-level retail and stairways.” The master lease for the building says when it’s renovated, tenants may not sell alcohol to go, an integral part of Peterson’s business. The city will also give priority to retailers with three or fewer locations. Peterson owns four stores. Peterson finds those restrictions suspiciously specific. “I read into that,” he says, “that they’re making those rules to keep us out.” Customers and some politicians want the store to stay open. “We urge Prosper Portland to see the value of supporting a small business with over 30 years of service downtown and to sign a long-term lease with Peterson’s,” City Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Chloe Eudaly wrote in a June 30 letter to then-Prosper Portland board chairman Tom Kelly. “Save Peterson’s” stickers are cropping up across the westside, and Peterson has gathered around 2,200 signatures on a petition. One signer called the store a “blessing to the destitute.” Prosper Portland says Peterson’s is welcome to apply for a return. “We will have a competitive process for folks who are in the space today as well as others,” said Lisa Abuaf, the agency’s project manager for the garage renovation. “Businesses that complement each other will be really important,” Abuaf adds, noting her agency is seeking retailers that are “vibrant and can compete.” Tillotson fears the city will trade away part of its soul to encourage diversity. “ Women and minorities need help,” he says, “but over the dead bodies of existing businesses?”
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JUDGING
JUDY
THOMAS TEAL
PROSECUTORS’ DECISION TO CRIPPLE A JUDGE’S CAREER ECHOES A LARGER BATTLE OVER CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IN OREGON.
BY KAT I E SH E P H E RD
S
kshepherd@wweek.com
hortly after 4 pm on June 6, Circuit Judge Judith Matarazzo received an unusual visitor at her office in the Multnomah County Courthouse. An hour earlier, District Attorney Rod Underhill had called to request a meeting. The pair had met only a handful of times before. Matarazzo had a lot on her mind. She would head to the airport later that day to pick up family visiting for her parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. In four days, more than 100 people would fill her house for the celebration. And after 11 years on the bench, Matarazzo was also hoping for a major step up. In the spring, she’d applied for one of two openings on the bench of the Oregon Supreme Court. She was a finalist, but didn’t get chosen by Gov. Kate Brown. Now, Matarazzo, 58, was seeking the support of her fellow judges to become the presiding judge for Multnomah County. Matarazzo wondered what Underhill wanted. “Quite frankly,” she recalls. “I didn’t know why he was there.” In a 40-minute conversation, the county’s top prosecutor explained that he planned to ask the court to remove
Matarazzo from a case his office was prosecuting. Prosecutors and defense attorneys sometimes make such requests. But Underhill went much further. He told her none of the 81 lawyers in his office would ever try a case in front her again. That kind of blanket rejection is extremely rare. “I was truly stunned,” Matarazzo says. The next day, Underhill’s office delivered a 16-page memo alleging a decade of wrong decisions and improper behavior on her part. The DA’s conclusion: “The State cannot receive a fair and impartial trial or hearing before Judge Matarazzo in any criminal or civil matter.” Lawyers routinely file affidavits on specific cases arguing that a judge is incapable of fairly trying that case, either because of a conflict of interest or a perceived bias. But in Matarazzo’s case, Underhill went nuclear. His blanket affidavit restricted Matarazzo to hearing civil cases—less than 25 percent of the court’s caseload. “It’s like a Taylor Swift song,” says professor John Parry of Lewis & Clark Law School. “The district attorney is saying ‘we are never ever getting back together’ with Judge Matarazzo.”
(COURTESY OF JUDGE JUDITH M ATA R A Z Z O )
“It’s like a Taylor Swift song. The district attourney is saying ‘we are never ever getting back together’ with Judge Matarazzo.” — Jo hn Pa rry o f L ewis & Cl a rk L aw S cho o l
CONT. on page 14
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mult nomah count y c ourthouse (DANIEL STINDT)
In effect, Underhill had sidelined an independently elected member of another branch of government who did not work for him. That bold step marks another salvo in a larger battle raging between Oregon prosecutors and criminal justice reform advocates. It’s a philosophical disagreement over what role judges should play, who should be behind bars and for how long— and how the vast sums of money allocated to public safety should be spent. For decades, prosecutors held the upper hand. “If you look statewide, district attorneys and the DA Association have had a huge footprint on influencing the Legislature,” says David Rogers, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. Lately, reform advocates like Matarazzo, an outspoken critic of mandatory minimum sentences that give prosecutors enormous power, have gained ground. But now, she’s experiencing a backlash. “This experience is 10 times worse than breast cancer,” says Matarazzo, who has survived two bouts with the disease. “It strikes at who you are. When someone says you cannot be fair and impartial, for a judge, that strikes the essence of what it means to be a judge. Because if there’s any truth to that statement, you don’t belong on the bench.”
J
udith Matarazzo is one of 38 judges for the Multnomah County Circuit Court. She won election to the bench in 2006 after 20 years of trying civil cases in private practice. “I needed a change,” she says. “Anytime someone is faced with their own mortality [her second battle with cancer], it changes the way you see things. I needed something more.” A fireplug with a big smile and cropped auburn hair, Matarazzo likes to cook Italian food—especially cannolis—and aspired to be a folk singer before she started her legal career. “She’s very insightful and very bright,” says her former law partner Mike Gutzler. “In personal injury work, everyone you deal with is hurt. She has a lot of compassion. She’s very down to earth.” Since becoming a judge, Matarazzo has handled a wide variety of cases but has focused half her time on a specialized section of the court: the DUII Intensive Supervision Program, or DISP. Multnomah County is the only county in Oregon with a court for repeat DUII offenders. That court gives judges greater discretion than any other specialty court to determine which offenders are fit to enter DISP to receive treatment rather than jail time. 14
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T H E P R O S E CUT O R : Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill has emerged as a dedicated ally in the county’s treatment courts and alternative justice programs.
T H E P R O S E CUT E D: Multnomah
County Circuit Judge Judith Matarazzo may no longer rule on any criminal cases after the district attorney’s office filed a 16-page memo alleging 10 years of poor rulings and improper decisions.
(IMAGES: UNDERHILL COURTEST OF M U LT N O M A H C O U N T Y , M ATA R A Z Z O COURTEST OF COURTESY OF THE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY)
Matarazzo says she’s come to believe that incarceration is often less effective than treatment—and she’s voiced that view aggressively. “My perception of most judges is, they are somewhat conflict averse,” she says. In the DISP court, Matarazzo regularly clashed with prosecutors over the 90-day mandatory minimum prison sentences that state law requires for defendants convicted of three DUIIs in 10 years. Such sentences sometimes cost people their jobs and their ability to pay for DISP court-ordered treatment. She and other DISP judges repeatedly asked legislators to relax the law for defendants in treatment court. They got nowhere. Matarazzo tried to suspend, break up or offer alternatives to the sentences so that someone who had racked up a third DUII could still avoid jail and get treatment. Some of the complaints in the DA’s memo, Matarazzo says, stemmed from her attempts to use her judicial discretion to funnel offenders into treatment instead of prison. “If you take a judge’s discretion away,” Matarazzo says, “you might as well get a computer and plug in all of the factors and spit out a result.” Matarazzo’s disagreements with prosecutors extend beyond opinions about incarceration and sentencing. Last year, county and court officials finished planning a new, $300 million building to replace the crumbling, century-old county courthouse. Matarazzo pushed for the DA’s office, now located in the courthouse, to be excluded, noting that it and the court represent two independent branches of government that should be separated. “I don’t think the DA’s office belongs there,” she says. “It gives the perception that the district attorney and justice are the same.”
She lost that battle, and the district attorneys and judges will be moving into the new courthouse together when it opens in 2020.
W
hen District Attorney Mike Schrunk retired in 2012 after three decades as the county’s top prosecutor, he anointed as his successor the lanky Underhill, a keen cyclist who had spent his entire career in the DA’s office and whose experience with criminal justice is personal—his younger brother is a convicted meth dealer. Although DAs are elected officials, they rarely face challengers. Underhill ran unopposed in 2012 and 2016. Underhill employs 81 prosecutors and has an annual budget of $32.9 million. District attorneys set the agenda for the criminal justice system by deciding which cases to prosecute. Their choices signal their priorities to police and the public. “Prosecutors have an enormous amount of discretion—and usually that’s a good thing,” says Lewis & Clark’s Parry. “They use that discretion not to charge people or to bring lower charges than they could bring. But there are people who worry that DAs have so much discretion that they control the justice system.” Although he’s served for a far shorter period than many Oregon DAs, Underhill has earned his peers’ respect. “Rod has a reputation among the district attorneys in the state as being a particularly careful and thoughtful guy,” says Clatsop County DA Josh Marquis. “He does not leap before he looks.” Earlier this year, Underhill moved to defelonize the possession of minor amounts of hard drugs, well before other Oregon counties. His office also works closely with the court on treatment courts for drug and alcohol addicts and people suffering from mental illness. CONT. on page 16
S O F I E M U R R AY
DRIVING TO SOBRIETY The Multnomah County Circuit Court’s DUII Intensive Supervision Program aims to divert repeat offenders into drug or alcohol treatment rather than locking them up. Tyler Waud is an example of the program’s potential. Waud, 37, who today says he is clean and sober, works at his family’s funeral home. Waud entered the program in January 2011, after being arrested for driving 95 mph on a freeway while drunk. His then-4-yearold daughter sat in the back seat.
“She came up off her bench and pulled up a chair and talked with me at eye level. She made me feel like I was a person and not just a case number...” — Tyl er Wa u d
Waud says DISP saved his life and allowed him to rebuild a relationship with his daughter. He first met Judge Judith Matarazzo a few weeks after he entered the program. He had failed to meet some DISP requirements, and Matarazzo could have tossed him in jail. Instead, she gave him a final chance. “She came up off her bench and pulled up a chair and talked with me at eye level,” Waud recalls. “She made me feel like I was a person—and not just a case number, a person in the system, a criminal, an addict and an alcoholic.” Waud says he graduated from DISP in January 2014, two years early. He says he’s become a different person. “I was a walking hurricane,” he says. “I’m not a walking hurricane anymore. I don’t hurt people. I don’t destroy things. That’s what DISP did for me. It gave me a structure and a different way to live a life.” KATIE SHEPHERD. Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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“He’s been more willing than others to look at alternative justice programs that some of us have been more leery of,” Marquis says. “Rod is reflective of the Multnomah County community.” Despite Marquis’ assessment, Underhill leads an office that reformers say views some judges—and Matarazzo in particular—as too soft on criminals. A judge, above all, is supposed to be fair and impartial. Veteran prosecutors say she’s neither. “She’s completely biased against the state and crime victims,” says Norm Frink, Schrunk’s longtime top deputy before retiring in 2012. “She probably should have been affidavited years ago.” The memo makes perhaps its best case that Matarazzo has a bias against the state when it quotes her alleged reaction to the DA’s decision to appeal a case in which she tried to avoid handing down a mandatory 90-day sentence. Matarazzo and other judges working on the DISP court saw the mandatory sentence as a barrier to getting defendants into the treatment court. But the DA’s office was committed to following the law to the letter. The memo alleges that Matarazzo’s reaction to the appeal reveals her bias against the state: “I can barely contain my contempt that the state appealed this,” she is quoted as saying. On three occasions, private lawyers have filed single-case affidavits against Matarazzo, but that’s a pretty standard number for any circuit judge. Underhill’s June memo, however, lists a decade’s worth of minutely detailed grievances. They include: • Allegations that in six instances over the past eight years, Matarazzo started a court proceeding without a prosecutor in the room. Matarazzo says she did so because the proceedings were merely procedural and Underhill’s office had been briefed on the expected nature of the proceedings. • Complaints that Matarazzo failed in three cases to impose the mandatory 90-day jail sentence for offenders convicted of three DUIIs in a 10-year period. In two of those cases, the Oregon Court of Appeals found Matarazzo had erred and reversed her rulings. “If our statistics show us that the rate of recidivism is substantially less in a courtsupervised program, I’m probably pretty pragmatic and going to give them a shot,” she says. “If they blow it, they can go to prison.” • Complaints that Matarazzo improperly granted extensions to defendants in the DUII diversion program, which allows first-time offenders to avoid a conviction on their record. She says she did so because she believes an offender will either successfully complete the requirements with the extension or will end up with a conviction. Deputy district attorneys met with Matarazzo in 2015, and Underhill sent her a letter to express their concerns that she had been holding hearings without a prosecutor present, which they said violated judicial ethics. But one of Matarazzo’s colleagues says that was insufficient warning. Judge Eric Bloch, who ran the DISP court from 2003 to 2006, says he thinks Matarazzo’s decisions fell within the parameters of treatment-court best practices and that Underhill’s disagreement with her could have been resolved without the affidavit.
“I would hope that before the DA pushes that button,” Bloch says, “there would be a clear track record that the DA tried to communicate with the judge about these concerns and that those concerns are rising to a level where the DA’s office is concerned about the judge’s ability to be fair to the state.”
A
lthough Matarazzo says Underhill’s affidavit caught her by surprise, she probably should have seen it coming. In March, she was under consideration for a vacancy on the state’s top judicial panel, the Oregon Supreme Court. Former Supreme Court Justice Robert “Skip” Durham says Matarazzo would have made a strong addition to the court. “She’s an excellent judge,” Durham says, “and an excellent student of the law.” But while her candidacy was pending, Matarazzo allowed a nine-time DUII offender to enter DISP. She says she was merely ratifying a decision another judge had already made. Nonetheless, Underhill’s office reacted with fury, and a story appeared in The Oregonian on March 10. Nobody on the panel vetting the Supreme Court candidates or in the governor’s office could have missed it. “The community is in danger. Anybody who is walking on the sidewalk, anyone who is in the bike lane…is at considerable risk,” Deputy District Attorney Mike Botthof said in court at the time, arguing for a harsher punishment. The story, which Matarazzo describes as “sensationalism,” could have been written at nearly any time, she says, because DISP judges routinely take the risk of accepting offenders with three or more DUIIs into the program. Matarazzo thinks the bad publicity may have interfered with her getting the Supreme Court appointment from Gov. Brown, although the governor’s office denies any connection. Meanwhile, Underhill’s office says no prosecutors spoke to The Oregonian for the story. And shortly after Underhill announced the impending memo removing her from all criminal cases, she lost the vote for Multnomah County presiding judge to her colleague Stephen Bushong.
“She’s completely biased against the state and crime victims. She probably should have been affidavited years ago.” — n or m f r i nk , D.A. SCHRUNK’S LONGTIME TOP DEPUTY
“She’s an excellent judge, and an excellent student of the law.” — rob e r t “ s k i p ” d u r h a m , FORMER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
m u ltn o m a h c o u nt y c ou r t h o u s e ( D A N I E L S T I N D T )
Before Underhill revealed the memo, she expected to win. “Two days before the memo came out, our informal poll had me at 20 to 17,” Matarazzo says. “So I’m convinced that it created a problem for me there.” Since the Underhill memo in June, Matarazzo has not been allowed to take on any criminal cases, which make up the majority of the work in the Multnomah County Courthouse. Judge Edward Jones, Multnomah County’s chief criminal judge, says he’s seen such a blanket affidavit filed only a handful of times in his 40 years on the bench. He says Underhill’s action sends a message to all judges. “Obviously, when he says, ‘We won’t appear before you,’ that’s not a trivial act,” Jones says. “Everybody’s going to think about it.” Parry agrees. “Once they’ve done this to one judge, any judge could be in the cross hairs,” he says. “A result of this could be that judges will feel pressure not to disagree too much or too often with the DA’s office.” Underhill denies he was trying to send a message. “My efforts on behalf of the district attorney’s office and as district attorney were not intended to be political or have political consequences,” he says, “but instead intended to ensure fair and impartial trials.” Does that mean he thinks Matarazzo is the least qualified member on the Multnomah County bench? Underhill’s office declined to say, but she is the only judge he has chosen to remove from all criminal and civil cases involving the state since taking office.
A
cross the country, many Republicans—even the Koch brothers—are locking arms with liberal reformers to reduce incarceration. Oregon’s criminal justice system is relatively enlightened, but the incarceration debate is furious here as well. In 1995, voters approved Measure 11, imposing mandatory minimum sentences for certain violent crimes and thereby limiting judicial discretion. It gave prosecutors substantial leverage. “Our criminal justice system is set up to give outsized power to district attorneys,” says Bobbin Singh, executive director of the left-leaning Oregon Justice Resource Center. “This imbalance gives DAs and prosecutors enormous control.” Oregon’s recent criminal justice reform efforts have focused on reducing incarceration and limiting DAs’ power. On Aug. 27, the ACLU of Oregon launched an advocacy campaign that seeks to restrict the authority of the state’s district attorneys, calling them “the most powerful people in the criminal justice system.” In 2013, the pendulum swung toward reformers in Oregon—a bit. That year, lawmakers approved modest reductions in mandatory sentencing. This year, they increased the pace of reform, defelonizing personal possession of heroin and meth— and, in another blow to prosecutors, requiring the audio recording of all grand jury sessions.
“We are seeing some shift that’s happening at the Legislature,” says the ACLU’s Rogers. “People are recognizing more and more the power and influence that DAs have.” One power district attorneys retain, however, is the blanket affidavit. Matarazzo is not the only judge who’s feeling prosecutors’ wrath. In 2009, while Schrunk was still district attorney, his office affidavited Marilyn Litzenberger, another Multnomah County circuit judge with very public views on judicial independence, and refused to allow her to hear any felony cases brought by the state. The office still affidavits Litzenberger on some felony cases. A number of judges across the state have had similar blanket affidavits filed against them recently by district attorneys, according to the ACLU of Oregon. They include Judge Josephine Mooney in Lane County, Judge Cameron Wogan in Klamath County, and Judge James Fun in Washington County. “We’ve seen a number of DA offices look to wholesale disqualification of a specific judge based on a perceived bias,” said the ACLU’s Rogers. “It’s very concerning.” Kevin Neely, who lobbies for the Oregon District Attorneys Association, says the practice is fair because both defense attorneys and prosecutors can affidavit judges—and it falls well within a DA’s legal prerogatives. “That’s the balance that’s in the court system,” Neely says. “DAs have the right to affidavit judges. It’s not just Rod—there are a handful of judges who have been affidavited around the state. That is in adherence to the law. They can’t state that any DA in the state is doing anything or operating in any way other than in accordance with the law.”
S
ome criminal justice reform advocates worry that even as lawmakers seek to rebalance the criminal justice system, the power of affidavits could curtail the independence of the judiciary. “The person who is supposed to be in control of the justice system,” Parry says, “is the judge.” That was Matarazzo’s hope when she went on the bench. She says her goal is the fair administration of justice and to slow the revolving door of offenders who cycle through the courtrooms and jails. Affidavits work differently from the justice system, in which the accused is innocent until proven guilty. If a judge wants to knock down an affidavit, she must prove the lawyer who filed it acted in bad faith. In other words, an affidavited judge is guilty until proven innocent. Underhill’s office could lift the blanket affidavit at any time. Matarazzo could still redeem herself in the DA’s eyes. “She’d have to follow the law and allow us to participate in the hearings,” says Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden. Matarazzo says she hopes to find some kind of compromise with Underhill so she can go back to trying criminal cases. “I’m 58 years old,” she says. “I’m not wanting to retire anytime soon.”
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“Cully. I’ve lived there for four years, and it’s been really fun to watch it grow and change.”
“I’d have to go with the area between Tualatin and Sherwood. I’m staying there with some friends right now on a Christmas Tree farm and it’s pretty chill.” “St. Johns, definitely.”
Stree t
BY SA M GEHR KE
@samgehrkephotography
“Probably Beaverton because it has THE best Korean food.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PORTLAND SUBURB? OUR FAVORITE LOOKS THIS WEEK.
“Sellwood. I have a friend that lives there and the downtown zone is pretty awesome. I always love going over there to hang out.”
“I don’t know if I have one. I moved to the city to escape the suburbs in the first place. I do like, though, that the metropolis here shifts so seamlessly between metropolis and suburb.”
“We’d both have to agree on Milwaukie. There was this amazing ice cream place there called Lews Dairy Freeze. It’s not there anymore, but we both have great memories of that place.”
“Tualatin. I went to high school in PDX, but I remember hating it at the time. All of my friends were in Tualatin. I have really good memories of listening to Arcade Fire and driving through the streets. They have a very good movie theater, and the town is really underappreciated in comparison to Lake Oswego.”
fall arts
WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY
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WWEEK.COM
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ublis hes: You Can’t Be Sept What You201 . 6, Can't See 7 PAGE 12
The preview of the busiest part of the year for the vibrant Portland arts scene is back! We’ll include shows from every major arts organization in the city, featuring the most intriguing events in theater, dance, books, music and more. We’ll also highlight the diversity in the Portland arts scene including all things niche that make this city great! 503.243.2122 advertising@wweek.com
The Bump
TRICIA HIPPS
The T he Bounce Bounce B ounce House House H ouse he The Rules Rules THE WORLD’S LARGEST BOUNCE HOUSE IS COMING TO HILLSBORO. HERE ARE THE THINGS YOU MUST DO TO ENJOY IT. ☺ Bounce safely. ☺ Wear appropriate bounce-house apparel. We suggest, in particular, loose-fitting spandex. ☺ While we recognize that flailing your limbs wildly while bouncing is a satisfying hedge against the unrelenting sadness of the world, your right to flail your limbs ends where your neighbor’s face begins. Conversely, it begins where your neighbor’s face ends. It also begins at your shoulder. ☺ Adults must be accompanied by children at all times. Adults without children will be shunned, and removed from the bounce house. ☺ Screaming is a natural reaction to bouncing in the bounce house. But it is allowable only in short increments. Please do not scream continuously. ☺ The bounce house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Do not be alarmed by this. There is room for everyone in the bounce house. ☺ No splashing in the bounce house. ☺ No parking on the bounce house. ☺ No lying down in despair. Bouncers must be happy in the bounce house. Bouncers will have fun at all times. ☺ Please sign the release form before you enter. You will be filmed. ☺ Always bounce with a bounce buddy. If you become lost forever in the immenseness and the emptiness of the bounce house, your bounce buddy will inform your family. ☺ Be respectful of the bounce house. Before entering, whisper your name softly to the bounce house. ☺ Do not approach the bounce house DJ while bouncing with requests for Van Halen’s song, “Jump,” Kris Kross’ song, “Jump,” the Rolling Stones’ Song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” or Harry Belafonte’s infectious hit, “Jump in the Line.” Do you think the DJ is a fucking idiot? She is not. She is your superior. ☺ Always be aware of the locations of other bouncers. This will be made easier by the small GPS devices we will install beneath your neck skin. Your neck skin will be very sensitive during this procedure, but do not worry: We will massage you. ☺ Be mindful of the children. They are always near. ☺ Always bounce in full view of the guards. Keep your hands where we can see them. ☺ Patrons seen bouncing too listlessly will be questioned, and, if need be, reprogrammed. Always have fun in the bounce house. Always. Always have fun in the bounce house. ☺ Do not hug the walls of the bounce house, softly rocking, reciting the names of the people you love. We all know that won’t help anything. ☺ When the bounce house captain comes for you, do not resist. The bounce house is just. ☺ Shoes will be confiscated.
GO THE BIG BOUNCE AMERICA GO
bounce house will be at Shute Park, 750 SE 8th Ave., Hillsboro. Sept. 1-4. Thebigbounceamerica.ticketleap.com. Rules mostly fictional. Not all rules are fictional.
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Bourbon, Bacon, & Blues 814 SW First Avenue // www.zarzonfirst.com
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NAZIS GET PUNKED: Back in March, the staff at Lucky Lab Beer Hall in Northwest Portland got into a tense confrontation with a group of Nazis attempting to have a meeting in their establishment. Now, Ilan Moskowitz, the Lucky Lab employee who led the confrontation and frontman of local punk band Millennial Falcon, has released a song inspired by the incident. Moskowitz says his contact information was circulated via the notorious (and now banished) neoNazi website The Daily Stormer, but nothing ever came of it. So he decided to write an anti-racist fight song called “Nazi Punchers.” “Say it to my face, not on MySpace,” he sings. “You’re the number one fascist on YouTube.” Millennial Falcon celebrates the release of its new EP, Hikikomori, on Sept. 22 at American Legion Post 134. THIRSTY NO MORE: Thirsty Lion sports pub closed its original flagship location in Old Town on Sunday. Its future owners, Derek Stotz and Richard Kelly, plan to open a new spot there called Alderman’s Portland Tavern. Though the Portland-based Thirsty Lion chain is opening two more locations in Texas in October, owner John Plew says he’s closing in Old Town because of parking, safety and the smaller size of his first location. “You’ve gotta shoo people off your doorstep, you’ve gotta make sure your bathrooms have codes,” says Plew. “Your guests get harassed on the way out the door…It doesn’t fit the profile of somewhere we’d currently locate.” HILLARY COMING: Hillary Clinton is coming to Portland. Clinton will be speaking at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on December 12 in support of her new memoir, What Happened, about the election. Hopefully, the noted hiker will find some time to hit the trails. In a June interview, Clinton said she would “love” to hike the Pacific Crest Trail with Portland author Cheryl CLINTON Strayed while promoting her new book. The current book tour schedule does not seem to allow for this. Presale tickets for Clinton’s appearance are at hillaryclintonbooktour.com. TACO TWOSDAY: It was a bad week for tacos in Portland. On August 20, the popular rotisserie chicken spot Pollo Norte abruptly closed its original Cully location, after negotiations broke down with their landlords over the length of their lease. “They’re trying to sell the property, and they felt that having a lease of any long term didn’t help,” says Pollo Norte’s Wade Shelton, who says they’ll now concentrate on their newer Glisan Street location. >> The much-hyped Portland Taco Festival also shut down unexpectedly at Portland Meadows on August 26, after reports of long lines, a lack of food and water, and complaints so virulent Portland Police were called. According to multiple sources, including WW news partner KATU-TV, the food ran out in just 90 minutes—although organizers said later this was only a temporary issue.
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W E D N E S D AY
8/30
FARGO
PORTLAND DANCE FILM FEST
Pix's free movie-and-drinks series bookends its summer stretch with Fargo, the classic tale of upper-Midwestern murder and mayhem, which went on to inspire the excellent FX series of the same name. Pix/ Bar Vivant, 2225 E Burnside St., 971-271-7166, pixpatisserie.com. 8 pm. Free. All ages.
Amid its two weeks of screenings of national and international dance films, the first Portland Dance Film Festival is hosting a panel of experts with experience behind and in front of the camera who can provide guidance and inspiration to burgeoning dance filmmakers. FLOCK Studio, 8371 N Interstate Ave., Studio 4, portlanddancefilmfest.com. 7:30 pm. Free.
8/31
The jury is still out on whether Harmony Korine and his creepy-ass movies are actually good or not. Nonetheless, his movie about a group of teens who team up with a rapper named Alien, played by James Franco, and turn to armed robbery, is a lot of heavy-handed fun. Watch it on the roof of the Hotel deLuxe as part of NW Film Center's Top Down series. Hotel deLuxe, 729 SW 15th Ave., 503-221-1156, nwfc.org. Film starts at dusk. $10 advance, $12 at the door.
9/1
THE ROOTS F R I D AY
EARTHQUAKE HURRICANE
THE ROOTS
T H U R S D AY
SPRING BREAKERS
Get Busy
Having a full-time job as The Tonight Show house band may have slowed their once-intense touring schedule, but the Roots are still hip-hop’s greatest live act—and given that they don’t get away from their chucklehead boss often, expect them to let loose even more. Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey St., 503-669-8610, mcmenamins.com/edgefield. 6:30 pm. $59.50. All ages.
E V E NT S W E ' R E E XC ITE D A B O UT AU G . 30 –S EP. 5
For this week’s Earthquake Hurricane, the standup showcase is only hosting one comedian—sort of. Phil Schallberger, Portland’s most absurd alt-comedian, will perform multiple PowerPoint guided sets as several of the bizarre characters he plays. As usual, there will also be sets by the weekly showcase’s four hosts. Ford Food and Drink, 2505 SE 11th Ave., 503-236-3023, earthquakehurricane.com. 8 pm. Free.
BEERMONGERS
BeerMongers is opening up the cellars for five days of anniversary celebration, starting with fresh and vintage Pfriem on Friday and culminating in rare-beer night on Tuesday. Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus is promised, among other nice things. 1125 SE Division, 503-234-6012, thebeermongers.com. 5:45 pm.
9/2
S AT U R D AY
OREGON FERMENTATION FESTIVAL So many nice things are fermented: pickles, vinegar, kimchi, kombucha, weird bar eggs. Oh, and alcohol, including plenty of cider and mead. All will be on hand at the Oregon Fermentation Festival, as will a DIY pickling station so you can take your very own special pickles home. Rossi Farms, 3839 NE 122nd Ave., oregonfermentationfestival.com. 11 am-5 pm.
YASIIN BEY PERFORMS BLACK ON BOTH SIDES Never let it be said that the rapper formerly known as Mos Def doesn’t give his fans what they want. Sure, he’s made some questionable left turns in his career, but he knows that his 1999 debut, Black on Both Sides, remains his best-loved work. Attendees will be treated to all 72 minutes of his vivid epic show tonight. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033, roselandpdx.com. 8:30 pm. $28.50 general admission, $40 balcony seating. 21+.
S U N D AY
9/3
WHERE TO WEAR WHAT HAT
AN OCTOROON
A madcap dance show about female representation, the performers in WolfBird’s work unravel from delicate 1950s housewives to frazzled characters with smeared red lipstick. New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont St., wolfbirddance.wordpress.com. 8 pm. $15 advance, $18 at the door.
A dark satire of a 19th-century play about an interracial relationship, 2013’s An Octoroon is a strange, difficult play. But it’s in good hands—written by much celebrated D.C. playwright Branden JacobsJenkins, Artists Rep’s production will feature some of Portland’s best actors. You can catch a preview before it officially opens this Saturday. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison, 503-241-1278, artistsrep.org. 7:30 pm through Oct. 1. $25.
M O N D AY
9/4
URAL THOMAS & THE PAIN
ORCS! ORCS! ORCS!
Legendary Portland soul man Ural Thomas keeps on keepin’ on at his Monday residency at the Goodfoot, rolling through three hours of old and new songs for a mere $5 as the house basement band. Goodfoot Lounge, 2845 SE Stark St., 503-239-9292, thegoodfoot.com. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
At Function—a new plug-and-play bar space on 23rd Avenue—there’s a nutty-ass D&D bar pop-up with a full pig roast, D&D-themed vodka punch, and an epic D&D quest to play while devouring an entire mammal and getting soused. First-time players welcome. Function PDX, 919 SW 23rd Ave., facebook. com/fxpdx
9/5 T U E S D AY
HAIM The sisters HAIM took four long years between albums, and you can hear where all the time went in every hook of the just-released Something to Tell You, another set of pop earworms spliced with the DNA of Fleetwood Mac and Wilson Phillips. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971230-0033, roselandpdx.com. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
RENE DENFELD The latest from former investigator-turned-author Rene Denfeld, The Child Finder, takes classic thriller elements— private investigators, missing children, stuff about redemption—and places them in the heart of the Oregon wilderness. Nobody said living here was easy. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 800-878-7323, powells.com. 7:30 pm, Free. Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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Shandong www.shandongportland.com
LIVE MUSIC FRIDAY KARAOKE SATURDAY
FOOD & DRINK
Shandong www.shandongportland.com
Are the suburbs having a resurgence? Don’t smirk—it’s a real question, which publications like Bloomberg and the New York Times have taken up as data shows millennials are suddenly moving to the suburbs and buying big SUVs in surprisingly large numbers. In Portland, it feels like most of the cultural energy is still in the urban core, where cranes dotting the skyline are building housing for a booming population. But, as we set to work on this week’s issue, we noticed that there’s a lot going on...out there. Beaverton is the state’s most diverse city, and has a Koreatown (page 22) and a super-cool Korean bar (page 37). Lake Oswego has a viral rap star (page 32). Vancouver has ties to one of the most legendary country singers to ever live (page 29). This is an especially big week for Portland’s ’burbs, as Hillsboro will host the world’s largest bounce house (page 19) and Ridgefield hosts multi-platinum recording artist Nickelback (page 30). Are you rapidly being priced out of Portland? Well, hop in the Chevrolet Suburban and drive to the suburbs.
Classic Rock Hour M-F 2-6pm 304 SW 2nd (& Oak) // 971-242-8725
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. By MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Editor: MARTIN CIZMAR. Email: dish@wweek.com. See page 3 for submission instructions.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 1
TALK:
5am 7am – 2pm
MUSIC:
2pm – 5am
BeerMongers 8th Anniversary BeerMongers is opening up the cellars for five days of anniversary celebration, starting with fresh and vintage Pfriem on Friday and culminating in rare-beer night on Tuesday. Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus is promised, among other nice things. 1125 SE Division, 503-234-6012, thebeermongers.com.
Bite of Oregon One of the biggest and longest running food festivals in the state is now in the Rose Quarter, with wine, liquor, beer and food from all over the state. Rose Quarter, 1 N Center Ct St. biteoforegon.com. Through Sept. 4. $5-$10 for day passes, $35 for weekend passes.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 2 Oregon Fermentation Festival
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So many nice things are fermented: pickles, vinegar, kimchi, kombucha, weird bar eggs. Oh, and alcohol, including plenty of cider and mead. Rossi Farms, 3839 NE 122nd Ave., oregonfermentationfestival.com. 11 am-5 pm.
Where to eat this week: SUBURBAN EDITION 1. Rally Pizza
8070 E Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, 360-524-9000, rallypizza.com. When this arrived, we called this pizza and ice cream spot Vancouver’s first truly great restaurant—and unlike neighboring Smokehouse, you can’t get this food in Portland.
2. Yuzu
4130 SW 117th Ave., Beaverton, 503-350-1801. Behind an unmarked strip-mall door, find the Portland area’s original Japanese izakaya, with some of the most beautifully sweet, fatty pork-bomb tonkotsu ramen alongside a mess of intensely flavorful small plates.
3. Taqueria Hermanos Ochoa’s
943 SE Oak St., Hillsboro, 503-640-4755. On weekends in the summer, Ochoa’s is like a taqueria and parking-lot cookout at once, with a backyard grill blazing up with fire-kissed chicken and carne asada.
4. Pollos a la Brasa El Inka 48 NE Division St., Gresham, 503-491-0323, elinkarestaurant.com. There’s suddenly a lot of Latinstyle chicken in Portland. But for the Peruvian-style rotisserie, you’re still best off going here, hypnotizing yourself with the deep flames of El Inka.
5. El Camaronaso
18683 SW Tualatin Valley Highway, Aloha, 503-442-6920. All week during the summer, this cart serves terrific seafood tostadas, plus a killer beef-cheek barbacoa on weekends. Get some.
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PHOTOS BY LIZ ALLAN
FOOD & DRINK 4. DU KUH BEE
12590 SW 1st St., Beaverton, 503-643-5388. I may never be seated in the main dining area of busy, tiny Du Kuh Bee—tucked in downtown between Nak Won and a hair salon—and that’s just fine. The small twotops that populate the hallway offer all the table space you’ll need. Every time you go, you’ll get the same thing: two little dishes of radish and cabbage kimchis, and a plate of hand-pulled noodles in one of umpty different forms. This was the original spot for Frank Fong before he started his Broadway noodle house, and it shows. Chewy and with just the right amount of singe from the wok, the noodles in the beef bulgogi noodle dish ($13) especially hit all the right spots. The beef is tender, the bean sprouts crunchy and the scallions pungent.
5. HAE RIM USE YOUR NOODLES: An off-menu BBQ pork and udon dish at Spring, with banchan plates.
K-Town, Ranked
WE SURVEYED THE KOREAN SPOTS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF THE BEAVERTON TRANSIT CENTER. HERE ARE THE BEST. BY BRIA N PA N G A N I B AN
bpanganiban@wweek.com
Downtown Beaverton is a hotbed of bibimbap and sundubu. Since the ’90s, K-Town has had the area’s densest mix of Korean food. In part, you can thank tech firm Tektronix for that. Though the first home of Portland’s Korean immigrants was Gresham in the ‘60s, the ’Tron’s manufacturing boom in the late ’70s brought a wave of Korean immigrants to Beaverton in the Cedar Hills and downtown areas. And where communities spring up, restaurants are bound to follow. Early spots served Chinese or Japanese food for the Beavertonian palate, but by the ’90s the Korean population was big enough to support wholly Korean menus—with classic BBQ, spicy tofu soup and rice-and-beef bibimbap supplemented by Korean food’s customary array of banchan—little dishes of spicy kimchi, mashed potatoes or pickled radish that accompany every Korean meal. For Cluster Feeding Month, our month of visiting Portland’s clusters of food from all over the world, we visited just about every K-Town Korean spot within walking distance of the Beaverton Transit Center to find the best. We ordered sundubu jjigae silken-tofu stew, dolsot bibimbap and kimchi jeon pancake. We ranked them here, starting with our favorite.
1. NAK WON
2. SPRING
3975 SW 114th Ave., Beaverton, 503-641-3670. Hidden away above a ramshackle G-Mart grocery store that looks like it may have housed a bowling alley in a previous life, accessible via some easily missable back stairs, bare-bones Spring feels like a secret—an exclusive club that requires a password to enter. The novelty SPRING would be reason enough to come. But then you tuck into a steaming bowl of their sujebi (hand-torn noodle soup. $10.95) and realize it’s also some of the finest Korean food anywhere near Portland, and well worth the trek. Beyond the starchy comforts of the rough-edged noodles and potatoes of that dish, Spring sports the cleanest-tasting sundubu ($10.95) broth I’ve encountered. It’s practically spa food, pure and wholly vegetable-based—you can almost feel your skin clearing while you eat it.
4600 Watson Ave., Beaverton, 503-646-9382. Nak Won has been consistently putting out some of the best food in town since they opened in 1993. All the classic dishes are solid here, but often it’s the little details that set 12275 SW Canyon Road, Beaverton, 503-641-1734. it above everyone else. Seafood kimchijeon pancake, for There’s no room for indecisiveness at DJK. Don’t assume instance, is a staple in Korea, and Nak Won’s is as good as you’ll be able to place another order halfway into your they come, but its oft-ignored green onionmeal, as the staff is attentive for as long as it takes only cousin ($12) is revelatory here. The to get your food on the table, and then they wisp lack of extra moisture from the seafood into the smoke coming from the grill tables. allows it to retain its crusty crunch But once you over order—and you will— longer, and coupled with a few Korean BBQ is pretty much arts-and-crafts splashes of the super-salty dipping time, unfurling rolls of spare rib or strips sauce that accompanies it makes of pork belly with your tongs. But as good for some phenomenal mouthfuls. as the BBQ is, don’t sleep on DJK’s haemul They also sport the only gamja dolsot bibimbap ($12.95), a squid-and(mashed-potato salad) banchan shrimp spin on Korea’s classic rice, meat really worth eating in town: tangy, and veggie dish served in a screaming-hot sweet and salty. stone bowl. It’s pretty much Far-East paella, NAK WON CHEF AND OWNER, TAE OK LEE right down to the rice-crust socarrat edge.
3. DJK
11729 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton, 503-671-9725. When I first went to Hae Rim about 10 years ago, they were putting out serviceable but unremarkable food, a great place for those unfamiliar with Korean dishes to dip their toes. This utilitarian eatery, stuffed into the homey, rundown confines of Beaverton Town Square, hasn’t changed—except now, the food is a lot better. They still serve gyeran jjim (steamed egg) in a small stone bowl along with the other banchan, and finish each meal with a small cup of sikhye (sweet rice punch). Small posters of Korean celebs hawking Hite beer still adorn the walls. The cabbage kimchi has more of a funky impact to it, the gyeran fluffier and the japchae ($10.95) noodles less of a pure sesame oil bomb. Hae Rim’s tasty sundubu soft tofu soup is of an oddly lighter hue than most, with a spice profile that tasted more like an Ethiopian doro wat than a Korean dish.
6. WABA
12055 SW 1st St., Beaverton, 503-672-9222. It’s always Halloween at Waba. A big plastic jack-o-lantern sits sentinel at the entrance of this little shop, ostensibly to dispense after-meal candy. Sitting just south of where the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway becomes Farmington Road, Waba is somewhat impenetrable. There’s a lot of signage in Korean with a modicum of translation that makes you second-guess what it is you’re getting after you place your order. Sometimes that works out, especially when the kimchi-jjigae (described simply as “spicy kimchi stew” on a hand-scrawled wall menu) sports an unexpectedly prominent smokiness from some uncredited grilled pork belly nestling in the bottom of the bowl. Banchan is a perfunctory affair, simply radish and cabbage kimchi.
7. KOREANA
9955 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton, 503-646-7767. Koreana sits nestled in a geometrically confusing, repurposed office space from some era when extensive woodpaneling apparently meant modern. Having forgotten to say dolsot (hot stone pot) in front of my bibimbap order—totally my fault—I got a pretty banal bowl of stir-fried veggies and a smattering of ground beef. Meanwhile, the sundubu’s stone pot was hot enough to keep the sufficiently peppery soup bubbling and overcook the dish’s (optional) fish-egg sacks into gray, grainy, unappetizing lobes. And yet, it wasn’t hot enough to set the white of the chicken egg cracked into it. GO: The Korean American Coalition of Oregon will host Mukja: Korean Food Festival on Sunday, Sept. 10, in Portland at the Ecotrust Building, 907 NW Irving St., with 11 chefs including Koreatown author Deuki Hong, Han Oak’s Peter Cho and Kim Jong Grillin’s Han Ly Hwang. kacoregon.org/kfoodfest. 1-5 pm. $70. Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC
No Place For Me WILLIE NELSON’S SECRET OREGON ROOTS LIE IN A SMALL TOWN OUTSIDE PORTLAND. BY JAY H O RTO N
Oregon has always thought of Willie Nelson as one of our own. He lobbied the state legislature on behalf of medical marijuana. He invested in a local biodiesel plant. Block 15 brews Willie Nelson Blazey Pale Ale. And next week, Jackpot Records will reissue his debut album, the first time it’s ever been re-released on vinyl. ...And Then I Wrote was recorded in 1962, well after several songs, such as “Crazy” and “Hello Walls,” had already become hits for established artists. But Nelson’s first single was actually cut five years earlier inside the studio of a Vancouver, Wash., radio station employing “Wee Willie Nelson” as their top country-music DJ. If officially Texas’ favorite son, Nelson’s early artistry first took flight only after fleeing the Lone Star State for a roadhouse just this side of the Columbia River, where his mother worked as a bartender. He had left the Pacific Northwest behind by the time his songs began climbing the charts, and his local lineage has been drowned out by the official histories. But the poet laureate of the American honkytonk remains bound by blood to a tavern still serving the blue-collar locals of Goble, Oregon. An unincorporated community midway between Portland and Astoria, Goble entered the 20th century as a vital timber hub featuring the second largest railroad ferry in the country. But the sole surviving remnants of past glories are the century-old grange hall and a bustling tavern not much younger. From the back-patio stage to framed news articles commemorating the closure of the nearby Hanford nuclear plant, every inch of the Goble Tavern betrays some
hint of a long and colorful past. At the behest of veteran bartender Phil Walker, Kathy Dalton Showalter, the daughter of the establishment’s original owners, wrote out the story of the bar’s single brush with greatness in the margins of an old menu stuck inside a photo album that usually floats around the barroom. “My folks owned the tavern from 1952 until maybe 1964,” the statement reads. “Mom ran the tavern and Willie Nelson’s mom worked for her.” Although Nelson and his wife lived in Vancouver, he became a frequent guest. While Nelson had already begun sketching out the first few chapters of a legendary songbook, there’s no report of any early performances, though that likely says more about the spirit of the age. Showalter told Walker that “everyone played in those days, everybody had a musical instrument—and it was just the employee’s son, you know? Nobody would’ve paid attention because everybody was playing something.” Of course, he hadn’t yet grown into the Willie Nelson we now know. According to Goble resident Harvey Meyers, whose father, Rusty, led “the best Western swing band in the Northwest,” and often played at a defunct dance hall out on 82nd Avenue, Nelson expressed interest in sitting in with his dad’s band, but his father refused because “he just couldn’t stand Willie’s voice.” “Now, a couple years go by, my dad’s a disc jockey at KVAN over in Washington, and so is Willie Nelson. And my dad hated his guts,” Meyers says. “No, really. I remember one time, sitting at the dinner table, my dad was just bitching. ‘Goddamn, Willie—that whiny voice. He sounds like a stuck hog!’ His voice, when he was a young kid like I was,
OK GOBLE: Inside the Goble Tavern, where Willie Nelson’s mother once worked.
just didn’t appeal to anybody.
WILLIE THE YOUNGER: The cover of Willie Nelson’s 1962 debut.
tioned at the Bremerton, “Goddamn “God, it took a long time— Wash., submarine really it did—but he wrote all Willie—that base, Ty Titus and these good tunes!” he conEngram whiny voice. He Mark tinues. “A few years later, my jammed Nashville dad’s working three jobs as sounds like a standards at the always, when I hear Patsy Cline Goble Tavern on stuck hog!” sing ‘Crazy,’ and, man, I tell you Sunday nights. Their what—that son of a bitch did it!” country-rock band Lock Stock and Barrel soon turned regon clearly wasn’t made for Willie that residency into gigs at the Crystal Nelson. Ballroom, Hawthorne Theater and, in Nelson’s first single, 1957’s “No Place For Me,” sunk without a trace despite 2012, an opening slot for Willie Nelson at a lumberjack-themed B-side expressly pan- what’s now Sunlight Supply Amphitheater dering to Oregonian pride. The floundering in Ridgefield, Wash.
O
talent confronted the limitations of a middling Portland market. The saga of Boxcar Willie, whether fluffed by memoir or detailed in evermore-derivative biographies, has always been spun as the lurid tour journal of an itinerant hell-raiser turned weed-puffing messiah. His sainted path toward enlightenment overflows with dives high and low. And yet, the Goble years have been formally disappeared from the public record. Three years ago, when Howard Stern brought up his time in Portland, Nelson immediately corrected him with “Vancouver, Wash., right across the river.” In a 1980 autobiography doubling down on his rough-and-tumble origins, he admits arriving in the Northwest largely to cadge money from his mother but glosses over the circumstances, merely noting she lived in Portland. It’s a baffling omission from the legend— all the more so because the Goble Tavern has not only survived the passing of the honky-tonk era but, until quite recently, emerged essentially unchanged. But many decades after leaving the region, Nelson would have one more encounter with his Northwest past, though he’d never know it. During their off-hours as Marines sta-
“Oh, we were absolutely thinking about the Goble connection,” Engram says. “We’d talked about it. We were all ready.” Alas, they never got the chance to bring it up—their only interaction with Nelson involved their bassist asking about his golf game as he walked onstage. From a certain perspective, the Goble contingent’s most meaningful interaction with the legend that night came from longtime bartender Phil Walker’s failed attempt at garnering a signature upon a hat that read “Historic Goble Tavern.” “There’s a portion of the concert where Willie walks around the stage and signs autographs for everybody,” Walker says. “I remember he was signing the bandana for the lady next to me when the security guy put the Goble hat on the stage. He was kinda looking down at it. And then he stood up straight, handed the bandanna back to the security guy, said, ‘Goodnight, everybody,’ and walked off stage.” “I know Phil was right up there with a Goble Tavern hat and Willie did not sign it,” Engram recalls. “If it was something he didn’t like, I’m not judging the dude.” HEAR IT: Jackpot Records’ reissue of Willie Nelson’s ...And Then I Wrote is out Friday, Sept. 1. Preorder at jackpotrecords.com. Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC = WW Pick. Highly recommended. Prices listed are sometimes for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and so-called convenience charges may apply. Event lineups are subject to change after WW’s press deadlines. Editor: MATTHEW SINGER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, go to wweek.com/submitevents and follow submission directions. All shows should be submitted two weeks or more in advance of event. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: msinger@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 30 Mordecai, Amani, Amenta Abioto
[ELECTRO POP] Local electronic trio Mordecai celebrate the release of their debut LP and the start of a European tour with this one-off ship-launching gig. Not to be confused with the Butte, Mont., lo-fi punk band, Portland’s Mordecai utilize an eclectic palette of blips, beeps, keys and violin as foundation for dark, emotive shifts of melody. Imagine an Oval record paired with a choir of clinically depressed vocalists. Fans of the Knife, Purity Ring or Grimes will find much to love here— just make sure you’ve located the right Mordecai. CRIS LANKENAU Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503239-7639. 8:30 pm. $8. 21+.
THURSDAY, AUG. 31
Adult Books, Woolen Men
[POST-PUNK] Adult Books’ self-titled 2012 EP was an economical blast of woozy, surfy pop punk summarizing the summery drunkenness that can make late SoCal nights so unshakably perfect. It was the sound of sunblasted asphalt finally cooling and melted brains waking up from heat naps. On last year’s Running From the Blows, the Los Angeles trio went deeper into darkness, into those early-morning hours where the Cure soundtracks slow-drive up winding Silver Lake streets. Adult Books is still writing irresistible hooks, but these are pop gems best enjoyed alone, when one needs a bridge between heartache and hope. CHRIS STAMM. White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8th Ave., 503-236-9672. 8 pm. 21+.
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FIVE NICKELBACK SONGS THAT REALLY AREN’T THAT BAD “I Don’t Have” (1996)
It’s not that the closer of Nickelback’s 1996 debut album Curb is actually good, but the quiet-loud dynamics that back Chad Kroeger’s yowling on the chorus bear such an uncanny resemblance to Vs.-era Eddie Vedder that you should sneak it into your die-hard Pearl Jam fan friend’s deep-cuts megamix and see if they even notice.
2 “Breathe” (1999) If the talking wah-wah guitars that open Nickelback’s 1998 alt-rock radio breakthrough The State sound familiar, take note that Bon Jovi’s megahit “It’s My Life” was released two years after everyone’s least favorite post-grunge poster-boys stormed out of Edmonton and onto the airwaves. That’s right—Bon Jovi ripped off Nickelback. Let that sink in for a minute. 3 “Woke Up This Morning” (2001) Sometimes you wake up pissed off, hungover and jonesing for some bright and crispy riffs to get you punching your steering wheel. Buoyed by a pounding rhythm and a rap-rocking style, this popular live-set opener is just what the doctor ordered when you’re angry for no good reason. 4 “Another Hole in the Head” (2003) Listen hard enough and the dour arpeggio that starts this sullen midtempo rocker from 2003’s The Long Road hits the same feels as formerly great emo bands Taking Back Sunday and Thursday. This song is proof that Nickelback is capable of a good lick on the off-chance they turn off the “EXXTREME CRUNCH” preset every now and then. 5 “Burn It to the Ground” (2008) Like most other successful post-grunge bands, Nickelback decided to write a few strip-club anthems to stay in the game. “Burn It to the Ground” splits the difference by riding a stomping rhythm and arena-baiting backup vocals that have just enough #YOLO vibes to elicit curiosity as to how rad this would’ve sounded if they had sold it to Katy Perry instead. PETE COTTELL.
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Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
SEE IT: Nickelback plays Sunlight Supply Amphitheater, 17200 NE Delfel Rd., Ridgefield, Wash., on Wednesday, Aug. 30. 6 pm. $20-$200. All ages.
PHILLIP QUINN
PROFILE
PHOTO: CAPTION TKTKTK
Wynne or Go Home Could a white girl from Lake Oswego be Portland’s next viral rap star?
Sina Holwerda knows what you’re thinking, and she doesn’t blame you. “Anyone who’s going to judge me before I rap, I understand why,” says the 20-year-old Lake Oswego native, who rhymes under her middle name, Wynne. She’s well aware that, as a babyface blonde girl from a wealthy Portland suburb trying to forge a career in hip-hop, the very sight of her is going to trigger eye rolls in those still suffering from post-Iggy Azalea PTSD. But she also doesn’t deny that such skepticism plays to her advantage—especially once she opens her mouth and gets to spitting. “It’s a fun element of surprise,” she says. “It’s why I went viral.” Actually, it’s the reason she’s gone viral twice. In 2016, Holwerda posted a freestyle to Twitter, showing off the rapid-fire delivery and in-your-face lyricism she’s been honing since middle school. It caught fire online, exploding her followership; even Snoop Dogg retweeted it. A few weeks ago, she put up another freestyle intended as a thank-you to those who’d supported her over the last year. It blew up even bigger. Preeminent hip-hop blog World Star picked it up, then Complex, then Beats 1 radio. She’s now sitting at 48,000 followers and counting, received co-signs from such industry heavyhitters as Irv Gotti and Post Malone, and even has fan accounts popping up on social media. It’s been a whirlwind, for sure. But if you ask Wynne, it hardly happened overnight. She’s been working toward this since age 12, when she fully gave herself over to the rap life—writing lyrics every day and trying to match her flow to motormouths like Eminem and Twista—a decision that initially confused her investment manager father and attorney mother. They started to take her more seriously around the time she entered her seventh-grade talent show. “Granted, I sucked,” she admits. But she did catch the attention of a classmate’s father, a former rapper himself, who told her she was “born with a gift.” “I’ve hung on to those little comments throughout my career that have helped me stick with it,” she says. Being underage in Lake Oswego, though, further opportunities to get onstage were rare. She watched the Portland scene from afar until earlier this year, when she performed at longtime promoter StarChile’s monthly Mic Check cypher at White Eagle and blew several vets off the stage. With her profile increasing, Wynne recently scrubbed the internet of her older material, leaving only the scathing “An Open Letter to Donald Trump” and “CVTVLYST,” a six-minute labyrinth of pop-culture references, political invective and shout-outs to fellow University of Oregon alum Marcus Mariota. A self-described “rapper’s rapper,” she’s currently working on developing the pop side of things, like writing choruses, and fielding offers she’s yet not at liberty to discuss. Wynne knows that, for every Aminé who’s able to spin clicks and likes into legitimate success, there are hundreds more who simply disappear into Google’s cache. But the way she sees it, whatever happens, she’s already put in too many hours to be considered just a flash in someone’s timeline. “I’ve been working at this for a while, and I didn’t mean for this to go viral. I just posted a video of me rapping,” she says. “If that’s what it took for people to start paying attention, then so be it. But it’s been a long time coming.” MATTHEW SINGER. HEAR IT: Find Wynne at soundcloud.com/sinawynne and on Twitter at @sinawynne.
Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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6 SW THIRD NEXT TO VOODOO
THURS AUG 31
SYNERGNTIC NW
THURSDAYS PRESENTS MR. WU, TAKIMBA, TOUNGE AND GROOVE
INTRODUCING FRIDAY, SEPT. 1 Star Club, Wave Action, Boink
[POST-GLAM] Combining the best elements of lounge, glam and post-punk, Star Club’s sound is energetic yet polished, refined in a way punk usually isn’t. The Portland band’s demo offered just a taste, but now, with the release of their official debut full-length, Sixth Avenue Motel, the group sounds more artsy and suave, incorporating more soul (and saxophone). With a stage presence that’s spirited but effortlessly cool, Star Club are building a fan club we’ll all soon consider ourselves a part of. CERVANTE POPE. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 503-328-2865. 9:30 pm. $6 advance, $8 day of show. 21+.
The Roots
TONIGHT SHOW TODAY] See Get Busy, page 21. Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, 503-669-8610. 6:30 pm. $59.50. All ages.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 2 Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) Performs “Black on Both Sides”
FRI SEPT 1
$5 goes to ACLU
DAVID BOWIE AND MORRISSEY TRIBUTE NIGHT SAT SEPT 2
9PM|$5-7 donation goes to charity
DEATH OF GLITTER PUNK TUESDAYS: WILL RETURN IN SEPTEMBER
[CONSCIOUS RAP] See Get Busy, page 21. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033. 8:30 pm. $28.50 general admission, $40 balcony seating. 21+.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 3 [FOLK] Largely considered one of the finest singer-songwriters of his generation, Conor Oberst is a true folksmith. Whether it be with Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk or any number of other projects, Oberst always commands the stage with his whipsmart, jittery lyrics and propensity for sharp orchestration. The Bob Dylan comparison was always a bit much. But with Oberst’s latest record Salutations—a reimagined and beefed-up version of his previous effort, Ruminations—he is showing the musical genius of a bonafide folk-rock great. Show up early for his one-time bandmate, Portland’s own king of folk, M. Ward. MARK STOCK. Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon Rd. 7 pm. $30-$90. All ages..
TUESDAY, SEPT. 5 Haim, LPX
[SOFT-POP SAVANTS] See Get Busy, page 21. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
Oregon Symphony
(503)847-9177 WEB
THEPARISPDX.COM FACEBOOK.COM/
THEPARISPDX
AUTONOMICS WHO: Dan Pantenburg (guitar, vocals), Evan Leikam (drums), Vaughn Leikam (bass). FOR FANS OF: Japandroids, the Thermals, Titus Andronicus, Wavves. SOUNDS LIKE: Spending your last few bucks on a six-pack and not feeling one damn bit bad about it. Autonomics’ louder-than-life noise-pop songs are perfect for
Conor Oberst, M. Ward, Phoebe Bridgers putting off the mundanities of the everyday in favor of partying
CLASSICAL, JAZZ & WORLD
EVENT INFO
DATES HERE
COURTESY OF BANDCAMP
THE NEW PARIS THEATRE
MUSIC
[CLASSICAL] The Oregon Symphony has been doing a remarkable job of engaging the local community. Last season, there were performances of video game scores, live movie soundtracks, jazz and pop shows, children’s programs and many fantastic renditions from the classical canon. This upcoming 2017-18 season is titled “New Dimensions,” implying that it will present an even more modern classical approach to symphonic music. This outdoor concert, however—replacing the symphony’s annual performance in Waterfront Park—will be all ear-candy “blockbusters” from Tchaikovsky, composer John Williams and other recognizable, family-friendly music, with the sure intent to bait more potential subscribers. It will also be a joyous reminder to the city just how magnificent its local symphony is, and how fortunate we are to have Carlos Kalmar for a conductor. NATHAN CARSON. Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon Rd. 7 pm Saturday, Sept. 2. $30-$90. All ages.
all night and sleeping till 2 pm. But don’t let the tongues-out, fingers-in-ears irreverence fool you—when it comes to music, Autonomics are dead serious. At least, they have been since arriving in Portland from Bend seven years ago. “Bend was cool to us, and we were getting good reception, so we thought, ‘Hey, maybe this will work,’” says drummer Evan Leikam, whose twin brother, Vaughn, plays bass. The transition from Bend wasn’t without its hiccups—when they arrived here, the band didn’t know anybody, and most nights were spent playing video games, practicing and getting stoned. “We sort of toiled for five years,” Leikam says. “We had to start at the bottom. It was an intimidating thing, moving to a town with like 2,000 active bands.” Still, those early years weren’t all for naught. “We’ve been a band for nine years,” says singer-guitarist Dan Pantenburg, “but that first half we spent getting good and learning how to be a band.” Those formative years saw a lot of mistakes, and taught them the humble sting of performing poorly in front of a crowd. The band now abides by a strict two-drink rule before they play, and thanks to a rather awkward show a few years back, they don’t get stoned before their sets, either. “[Now] we try be as frosty as we can be,” Evan Leikam says, “because…if people pay money to see a show, it’s kind of a ‘fuck you’ to the people who came if we can’t perform well.” The years booking two shows per week and an almost religious devotion to their music yielded a strong local following and has made Autonomics a mainstay in their music community here in Portland. Their local reputation helped land Modest Mouse producer Jeremy Sherrer on Debt Sounds, and the opportunity to record at Isaac Brock’s Ice Cream Party Studios. (“We got to smoke weed with Isaac Brock out of a tomahawk,” Evan adds, beaming with pride.) With the world boiling over with mayhem in every direction, Autonomics’ upcoming Debt Sounds—a tongue-in-cheek wink to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds—is one long bong rip that will mute the world’s ridiculous horrors long enough to share with you the band’s sweet combination of surf, punk and pop. Filled with fuzzy guitars and intoxicating hooks, it is a testament to the revelation Pantenburg had after listening to Wavves’ stoner-punk classic King of the Beach: “After hearing that, I learned we can be shitty and still make pop music that’s pleasing to the ear.” JUSTIN CARROLL-ALLAN. SEE IT: Autonomics play Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., with Ice Queens and Devy Metal, on Saturday, Sept. 2. 9 pm. $7 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
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Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
chopsticks express ii presents
the 19th annual
saturday
september $2.00 PBR
9th
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CHOPSTICKS 3390 NE Sandy Blvd. chopstickskaraoke.com no cover charge - 21+ over how can be!
Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
MUSIC CALENDAR WED. AUG. 30 Alberta Street Pub
1036 NE Alberta St Kendall Core, Gregory and the Hawk, MAITA
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St Jake McNeillie & Company, Green Hills Alone
Catfish Lou’s
2460 NW 24th Ave. Blue Wednesday Jam with Robbie Laws
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Max Gomez (The Winery Tasting Room)
Fremont Theater
2393 NE Fremont St. Louis Pain, Alan Jones, Dan Balmer
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Mordecai, Amani, Amenta Abioto
Jack London Revue
529 SW 4th Ave, Coco’s Cacophony + Shreddy Symphony of the Subterranean
Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
17200 NE Delfel Rd. Ridgefield, Wash. Nickelback
The Barberry
645 NE 3rd St., McMinnville Dave Floratos
The Fixin’ To
8218 N. Lombard St. VOG, B.R.U.C.E., Cockeye, A Volcano
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St. MR
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, Hot LZs, Tiger Touch, The Ransom
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave. Cécile McLorin Salvant
The Secret Society
116 NE Russell St. Balkan Dance Party feat. The Krebsic Orkestar, Threshold Orkestar
The Waypost
3120 N. Williams Ave. Gun Hill Royals
Triple Nickel Pub
3646 SE Belmont St. Loud & Rah
Turn! Turn! Turn!
8 NE Killingsworth St. Versing, Surfer Rosie, Hoop, Guppy Ripper
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Lost Ox, Liz Coffman and the Revenue
THU. AUG. 31 Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash St. Pi+fire
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave. Boyslut, Peach Pit
Catfish Lou’s
2460 NW 24th Ave. The Gary Burford Trio
Catfish Lou’s
2460 NW 24th Ave. Jam Session
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Springtime Carnivore
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St.
One Be Lo (of Binary Star), Landon Wordswell, Mostafa, & Randal Wyatt
For more listings, check out wweek.com.
[AUG. 30 - SEPT. 5]
LAST WEEK LIVE DANIEL STINDT
= 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.
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Loch Lomond, Planes on Paper, Sean Ogilvie
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Kris Deelane and the Sharp Little Things (Winery Tasting Room)
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. 1-2-3 Night 3: Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, Edna Vazquez
Mississippi Studios
Oregon Zoo
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Like A Villain, Golden Retriever, Sporting
4001 SW Canyon Rd. Conor Oberst, M. Ward, Phoebe Bridgers
The Analog Cafe
Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
720 SE Hawthorne Blvd., AVOID, Shatterproof, When the Broken Burn
17200 NE Delfel Rd., Ridgefield, Wash. Lady Antebellum, Kelsea Bellerini, Brett Young
The Fixin’ To
8218 N. Lombard St. Farewell Twin Peaks with Laura Palmer’s Death Parade, Bryson Cone, Jamais Jamais, DJ Patricia Wolf
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St. Andy Coe Band 12th Annual Jerry Garcia Celebration
The Goodfoot
The Know
2845 SE Stark St. Last Thursday: Far Out West, Woodbrain
3728 NE Sandy Blvd, Mic Crenshaw, Sammus, Mega Ran, Qbala, Quincy Davis
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, Pancho + The Factory, Queen Chief, Le Rev
Twilight Cafe and Bar
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Ohmwrecker, Mannequins In Cages, Tough Guy
The Lovecraft Bar
836 N Russell St Mic Check; Courtyard Bluegrass Jam
White Owl Social Club
1305 SE 8th Ave. Adult Books, Woolen Men
FRI. SEPT. 1 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Tony Hinchcliffe
American Legion Hall 2104 NE Alberta St. Bobby Peru, Heartless Magnus, Ditched, The Strugglers
Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash St No More Excuses
Black Water Bar
835 NE Broadway TURBO CHARGE! PNW Synthwave Showcase
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave, Star Club, Wave Action, Boink
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St Simple Plan, The Bottom Line
Dante’s
350 West Burnside Ed Masuga, Candy Cigarettes, Kat Fountain
Doug Fir Lounge 830 E Burnside St, Júníus Meyvant
Eastburn
1800 E Burnside St, The Classic Combo
830 E Burnside St, Vérité, Tigertown
2393 NE Fremont Street JT & Rowdy Mountain
529 SW 4th Ave. Mel Brown B-3 Organ Group
White Eagle Saloon
Doug Fir Lounge
Fremont Theater
Jack London Revue
116 NE Russell St Thursday Swing featuring The Hot Club Time Machine, The Jenny Finn Orchestra
1332 W Burnside St. Plini (Lola’s Room)
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Red & Ruby (The Winery Tasting Room)
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Grieves
The Secret Society
Crystal Ballroom
Edgefield
Hawthorne Theatre
421 SE Grand Ave, AL1CE, Strap On Halo, Autumn
Starover Blue, The Fourth Wall, Young Elk
THE BECKONING: When Beck was clearing clubs in the early ’90s by insisting a leaf blower could be a musical instrument and challenging his own sudden stardom with blown-out noise albums and lo-fi basement recordings, who would’ve known he’d grow to become such a people pleaser? Closing out the second annual MusicfestNW presents Project Pabst on Aug. 27, the still-boyish wonder gave the 10,000 attendees choking the southern end of Waterfront Park exactly what they wanted—the kind of greatest-hits set a younger, more creatively volatile Beck might’ve abhorred. For an artist who made his mononym on chameleonic zigs and zags, there was something curious about how the hugeness of the performance—abetted by LED screens and a large band—made all those career transformations sound like the same big song. Sonically, there wasn’t much difference from the plastic soul of “Sexx Laws” and the generation-defining Dada rap of “Loser”; even the mid-set cool-down drawn from the mellow folk of Sea Change and Morning Phase felt like the eye of the blur rather than a shift into a totally different era. For his part, Beck performed as a festival headliner should, shuffling, flailing and occasionally spazzing out. At one point, he introduced his band with a series of vignettes, playing bits of “Good Times” and “Rock Lobster,” and indulging his keyboardist’s extended Michael McDonald impression. Many, many years ago, this might’ve been interpreted as piss-taking irreverence. Here, it was mostly played for applause of recognition. But hey, it worked. MATTHEW SINGER. Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale These Guys (Winery Tasting Room); The Roots
Fremont Theater 2393 NE Fremont St. The Easy Leaves, Zach Bryson
Hawthorne Theatre
Kaleo, The Shelters, Wilder
U.S. Bombs
Star Theater
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Surf Garage Hootenany
13 NW 6th Ave., The Artifacts, F-Dot, DJ Sparks
The Firkin Tavern
1937 SE 11th Ave Postwar Radio, Challenger 70, Kizik
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. Decapitated, Thy Art Is Murder
The Fixin’ To
Jack London Revue
The Know
8218 N. Lombard St. Lovesores, Stars Blood, Lord Alba
Twilight Cafe and Bar
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St Fernando, Little Sue Band
SAT. SEPT. 2 Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Green Jello, Headless Pez, God Bless America, Sit Kitty Sit
Ash Street Saloon
Kenton Club
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. C-Average, The U.S. Americans
The Know
Bossanova Ballroom
Mississippi Pizza
3728 NE Sandy Blvd., C Average, Diesto, U.S. Americans, Heavy Baang Staang
529 SW 4th Ave. Hailey Niswanger
2025 N Kilpatrick St. The Quags, The Ruminations, The Bar Pilots 3552 N Mississippi Ave. Isaac Paris, Bogg, Human Ottoman
The Old Church
Mississippi Studios
1422 SW 11th Ave. The Way Down Wanderers, Grasshopper
Oregon Zoo
116 NE Russell St The Barn Door Slammers; The Gary Ogan Band
3939 N Mississippi Ave. 1-2-3 Night One: Wild Ones, Reptaliens 4001 SW Canyon Rd.
The Secret Society
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd
225 SW Ash St. Cobalt, Mantar
722 E Burnside St, Reagan Youth, Cliterati, Nokmim, 13 Scars
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St Johnnyswim
Dante’s
350 West Burnside Gangstagrass, The Railsplitters
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Autonomics, Ice Queens, Devy Metal
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Foster the People, Sir Sly; the Columbians (The Winery Tasting Room)
Fremont Theater
2393 NE Fremont St. Cocky Stevens, Vendetta, Mouthbreather; Happy Hour with Walkin’ Birds, Dame Nation & NurseBand
Hawthorne Theatre
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. She Wants Revenge
The Firkin Tavern
1937 SE 11th Ave. An Evening With Chilly Willy and Wave Collector
The Fixin’ To
8218 N. Lombard St Disenchanter, KLAW
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave, Jake MacNeil, Murderbait
1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd. The Out of Body Experience, The Skeleton Keys, Grey Fiction, A Sun A Moon, Strictly Platonic
The Secret Society
Jack London Revue
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Latter Day Skanks, Day Labor, Unusual Subs, Black Karma Social Club
529 SW 4th Ave. Laura Ivancie
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. 1-2-3 Night Two: Blitzen Trapper, Lenore
Oregon Zoo
4001 SW Canyon Rd. Oregon Symphony
Roseland Theater
8 NW 6th Ave Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def)
116 NE Russell St The Bandulus, Buddy Jay’s Jamaican Jazz Band; The Libertine Belles
Twilight Cafe and Bar
SUN. SEPT. 3 Al’s Den at Crystal Hotel
303 SW 12th Ave Tara Velarde and Guests
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave.
White Eagle Saloon 836 N Russell St. R&C
MON. SEPT. 4 Bossanova Ballroom
722 E Burnside St, Inquisition, UADA, Volahn, Vitriol
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Cellotronik (The Winery Tasting Room)
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Lillie Mae, Miller & Sasser
The Know
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Weeed, Sacred Trees
TUE. SEPT. 5 Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash St Dwight Dickinson
Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Lynn Conover & Little Sue (The Winery Tasting Room)
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Small Skies, DoublePlusGood, Small Million
Roseland Theater
8 NW 6th Ave. Haim, LPX
The Goodfoot
2845 SE Stark St. The Family Funktion
The Know
3728 NE Sandy Blvd, Husky Boys, Lawn Chairs, The Toads
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, So Pitted, Sleeping Lessons, Surfs Drugs
Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
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MUSIC COURTESY OF J-PREZ
NEEDLE EXCHANGE
J-Prez
Years DJing: It’s been about 12 years from the day I bought my first pair of turntables and started getting deep into vinyl. Before that, I had played a few parties on my laptop in college using Ableton Live. In high school and before the invention of Bluetooth speakers, I would carry my laptop with me everywhere and jam tunes for people constantly. Basically, my whole life I’ve always loved sharing music with people. Where you can catch me regularly: I have monthly gigs at both Aalto Lounge and Toffee Club. Occasionally I’ll play High Dive, Holocene, Liquor Store and always have a ton of fun playing Dig A Pony a couple times a year. I also DJ with the world-renowned local freak Etbonz as a duo named Journey Men—or Journey Boys, depending on how we are feeling. Genres: Disco, Balearic, Italo, cosmic, house, techno, all things psychedelic and general party music. Craziest gig: Around 2005, I DJ’d next to a baby-shark tank in the Washington, D.C., aquarium for my high school prom as an alum. Best dance floor ever. I also remember the kids flipping out to Baltimore club remixes.
My go-to records: Dr. Dunks’ remix of Bubble Club’s “Violet Morning Moon”; Project Sandro’s “Blazer”; all of Red Axes’ Shem Vol. 1; Idjut Boys’ “Saturday Night Live.“ I also enjoy busting out my OG copies of the Other People Place’s “Lifestyles of the Laptop Cafe” and Pepe Bradock’s “Deep Burnt” if we’re getting deep. Don’t ever ask me to play…: “Something I can dance to.” I play a lot of weddings, so I have to be accommodating depending on the gig. I have definitely vetoed plenty of requests when I disagree. It’s never fun to clear the dance floor for some bogus, not-cool jam and have everyone look at you like you have bad taste. However, there have been a few times that the request was just what the party needed and I might not have known it. It’s always pretty cool when that happens. NEXT GIG: J-Prez spins at Aalto Lounge, 3356 SE Belmont St., on Saturday, Sept. 23. 21+.
FRI, SEPT. 1 45 East
315 SE 3rd Ave, DATSIK
Bit House Saloon
WED, AUG. 30 Rock Hard PDX
13639 SE Powell Blvd, EDM Night
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave, Event Horizon (darkwave)
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Death Throes (death rock, post punk, dark wave)
White Owl Social Club 1305 SE 8th Ave East Night Shift (post, wave)
THU, AUG. 31 Black Book
20 NW 3rd Ave, Ladies Night (rap, r&b)
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Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St., POPgoji, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid
Jade Club
315 SE 3rd Ave, Open House: Yotto
Killingsworth Dynasty 832 N Killingsworth St Rock n’ roll with Shauna Faye
Moloko
3967 N. Mississippi Ave. DJ Koensy
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave, Shadowplay (goth, industrial, 80s)
Whiskey Bar
31 NW 1st Ave, OZZIE w/ LEViT zTE., BedroomTrax, Gold Standard
727 SE Grand Ave NoFOMO presents: The Perfect Cyn
Black Book
20 NW 3rd Ave, The Cave (rap, r&b, club)
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St 80’s Video Dance Attack
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. DJ EPOR (electronic)
Hawthorne Eagle Lodge
4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd, In The Cooky Jar (soul)
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St., Tribute Night Presents: Blessed
Killingsworth Dynasty 832 N Killingsworth St LEZ DO IT
Where to drink this week: SUBURBAN EDITION
CHRISTINE DONG
BAR REVIEW
1. Highland Stillhouse
201 S 2nd St., Oregon City, 503-723-6789, highlandstillhouse.com. The city’s greatest whisky selection remains here, at this hall of wonders overlooking Willamette Falls. Every Scotch you ever imagined drinking is here, served with cottage pie.
2. Little Beast
3800 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Ste. 300E, Beaverton, 503-329-5107, littlebeastbrewing.com. Friday afternoons only, stop in for a beer from founding Logsdon brewer Charles Porter—and if you’re lucky, you’ll get some crazy smallbatch kiwi beer we only get to read about on your Instagram.
3. Loowit
507 Columbia St., Vancouver, Wash., 360-566-2323, loowitbrewing.com. Loowit is Vancouver’s finest brewery hang—a fine beer bar and a fine brewery all at once, with Gauntlet Legends and Ultimate Mortal Kombat video games in the back by the brew tanks.
4. Bent Shovel
21678 S Latourette Road, Oregon City, 503-898-0220, bentshovelbrewing.com. On weekends, pull down the dead-end street and into the parking lot in front of a quaint red barn, where brewer Rick Strauss added a five-barrel system to the front side of his stables and the whole neighborhood drinks alongside their dogs and chickens.
5. Edgefield
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, 503-669-8610, mcmenamins.com/ Edgefield. At this little resort village and former poor farm in the eastern suburb of Troutdale, everything is somehow full of beer, and you’re allowed to walk around with your pint glass. Moloko
3967 N. Mississippi Ave. Lite It Up First Fridays w/ Frankeee B (Scandinavian synthetic funk)
The Goodfoot
THE WALL OF YES: Walk into Beaverton’s Ara Restaurant (6159 SW Murray Blvd., 503-747-4823) at 10 pm on a Saturday, and it’s like watching a neutron bomb go off in reverse. By day, the strip-mall spot next to Papa Murphy’s is a sedate eatery serving up classic Korean fare: bulgogi, seafood pancakes and sizzling sundubu in a stone dish. But within 15 minutes of the clock hitting 10 pm, the tables start rolling in six or 15 deep on the restaurant’s mood-lit upper ddonggojib deck, with tables of mostly Korean patrons downing $13 bottles of soju rice liquor next to the “WALL OF NO”—a side wall so covered with layers of tiny-scrawled, multicolor handwriting it looks like the bathrooms at the original CBGB. Until 1 am on weekends, Ara is a soju-fueled drunkfest sopped up with a Korean-style stoner-food menu of spicy squid, cheese corn and Spam-loaded budae jjigae, plus banchan sides of mashed-potato salad and kimchi that’ll keep on coming as many times as you ask. “Who made all the writing on the wall?” we ask. “The people who come,” says our gracious server, who somehow runs the whole floor solo. The wall is so dense with names and non-sequiturs—someone has bubbled out the word INSTAGRAM over the mess—it seems impossible the place amassed that much script in the mere year it’s been open. We’re downing glass after little glass of Hite beer and soju to cool the heat in our relentlessly spicy and glutinous dukboki ramen stew, cooked up on a burner in the middle of our table. But looking over at two older men at the table next to us we feel like lightweights. Six bottles of 20-percent ABV soju sit next to them along with a massacre of noodles and grilled meat, and they’re showing no signs of stopping. Meanwhile, tables of 20-somethings get up in unison to smoke next to the No Smoking signs on the sidewalk. This is the greatest bar in Beaverton, and it doesn’t even have a bar. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. SAT, SEPT. 2 45 East
315 SE 3rd Ave, Gammer
Black Book
2845 SE Stark St First Friday Superjam funk, soul, disco)
20 NW 3rd Ave, The Ruckus (rap, r&b, club)
The Liquor Store
1332 W Burnside St 90’s Dance Flashback
3341 SE Belmont St, Uplift (house)
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave, DoublePlusDANCE w/ DJ Acid Rick & DJ Dark Entries (new wave, synth, goth)
The Paris Theatre
6 SW 3rd Ave, David Bowie and Morrissey Tribute Night
The steep and thorny way to heaven SE 2nd & Hawthorne, Brickbat Mansion
Whiskey Bar
31 NW 1st Ave, Barely Alive and Virtual Riot
Crystal Ballroom
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St., DJ Sotofett & LNS
The Liquor Store
3341 SE Belmont St, Wake The Town (bass music)
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave, Expressway to Yr Skull (shoegaze, deathrock, indie)
White Owl Social Club 1305 SE 8th Ave East The Day Fade
SUN, SEPT. 3
MON, SEPT. 4 Elvis Room
203 SE Grand Ave DJ Wes Craven
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. Reaganomix: DJ Jay ‘KingFader’ Bosch (80s)
Sandy Hut
1430 NE Sandy Blvd. DJ Smooth Hopperator
The Lovecraft Bar
Ground Kontrol
421 SE Grand Ave, Black Mass (goth, post punk)
832 N Killingsworth St Questionable Decisions: Funky Lit Dynasty Dance Party
Produce Row Cafe
Kelly’s Olympian
Moloko
Star Theater
3967 N. Mississippi Ave. Roane (hip hop, soul, boogie)
13 NW 6th Ave., Hive (goth, industrial)
Quarterworld
The Lovecraft Bar
Kenton Club
2025 N Kilpatrick St Club Nitty Gritty: Dance Party
Killingsworth Dynasty
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd VCR TV (heavy synth, dark dance)
511 NW Couch St. Black Sunday: DJ Nate C. (metal) 204 SE Oak St, Bridge Club: Savile
421 SE Grand Ave, Sad Day
TUE, SEPT. 5 426 SW Washington St, Party Damage: DJ Mixed Messages
The Lovecraft Bar
421 SE Grand Ave, Sleepwalk (deathrock, goth)
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Toxic Tuesdays (spooky)
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PERFORMANCE TRICIA HIPPS
REVIEW
= 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 An Octoroon
Artists Rep’s new season is getting off to a bold start. First premiered in 2013, An Octoroon is a a dark satire of a 19th century melodrama, The Octoroon, about a relationship between a plantation owner and a mixed race woman. An Octoroon is a strange, difficult play. But it’s in good hands—written by much celebrated D.C. playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Artists Rep’s production will feature some of Portland’s best actors.. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison, 503-241-1278, artistsrep. org. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Sunday, 2 pm Sunday, through Oct. 1. $25-$50.
ALSO PLAYING Miss Ethnic Non-Specific
Workshopped at this year’s Fertile Ground festival, Miss Ethnic Non-Specific is now getting its fully staged premiere. Written and performed by Kristina Haddad, who’s done character work on Conan and was in the Adam Sandler movie Don’t Mess with the Zohan, the show will deal with the Portland actress’s experiences of trying to find a personal identity in an industry that asks you to conform. Shaking the Tree Theatre, 832 SE Grant St., shaking-the-tree.com/onstage-now. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, 7:30 pm Sunday, August 25-September 3. $20.
Tender Napalm
DANCE Cirque du Soleil: Kurios
The only thing surprising about Cirque du Soleil going steampunk is that it didn’t happen sooner. Over 30 years, the acrobatic-intensive French-Canadian circus show has based touring productions on everything from the catalog of Michael Jackson to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Kurios has the distinction of being hailed as the company’s strongest show in years by the Toronto Star, Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle. That seems fair enough, as the Victorian age of innovation proves fertile ground for creative costumes, set pieces and off-kilter storytelling. Kurios uses the motif well, with a brassy bicycle turned into a trapeze and a begoggled pilot balancing on an ever-growing tower of tubes and boxes. The story is enough to hold the scenes together and features a nice mix of humor and stunts. Highlights include the company’s signature contortion and unique trampoline scene that follows the intermission. MARTIN CIZMAR. Portland Expo Center, 2060 North Marine Dr., expocenter.org/events/cirque-du-soleilpresents-kurios. 8 pm Tuesday-Saturday, 4:30 pm Saturday, 1:30 pm and 5 pm Sunday, through Oct. 8. $29-$280.
Where to Wear What Hat
A madcap dance show about female representation, the performers in WolfBird’s work unravel from delicate 1950s housewives to frazzled characters with smeared red lipstick. New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont St., wolfbirddance.wordpress.com. 8 pm. $15 advance, $18 at the door.
Therapy
Layne Fawkes revives her personaly themed cabaret: Therapy deals with Fawkes’ own psyche, with Una Solitaire and Birdie Le Tramp personifying her insecurities and Noah Mickens as her thoughts. In true introverted form, the show will feature moody music of all kinds of all kinds, from Nine Inch Nails to Florence & the Machine. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside, danteslive.com. 9 pm Wednesday Sept. 21. $10-$15. 21+.
COMEDY Earthquake Hurricane
For this week’s Earthquake Hurricane, the standup showcase is only hosting one comedian—sort of. Phil Schallberger, Portland’s most absurd alt-comedian, will perform multiple PowerPoint guided sets as a several of his bizarre characters. As usual, there will also be sets by the weekly showcase’s four hosts. Ford Food and Drink, 2505 SE 11th Ave., 503236-3023, earthquakehurricane.com. 8 pm. Free.
PHILIP RIDLEY
Philip Ridley’s 2011 script depicts a relationship between Man (Josh Weinstein) and Woman (Beth Thompson), the play’s only two characters. The script unravels like a stream-of-consciousness, free-verse poem exchanged by Man and Woman, whether they’re contradicting or threatening each other, or delivering monologues that describe spectacular scenes. Director Jennifer Rowe’s production at the Shoebox Theater is sometimes surreal, frequently whimsical, explicitly sexual, weird and funny It can be frustrating to try to make sense of what’s going on at the outset of Tender Napalm. It’s a highly abstract play with a timeline that jumps around, and for a while, it’s unclear exactly where the script is going. But the poetic, bizarre dialogue and magnetic performances make it an entertaining ride. He would like to shove a hand grenade (“manmade fist of metal, gunpowder egg, nestled dynamite”) up her pussy. She, in turn, would like to shove one up his ass. In one long monologue, he battles a sea serpent, gets swallowed by the serpent, then climbs its spine to stab it in the heart. She reveals that she’s descended from Neptune and that the vicious sea serpent he just slew was her great, great, great, great aunt. The joy of Tender Napalm is seeing Weinstein and Thompson perform these monologues, piecing together their personal tragedy. Eventually, it does all come together. After winding through fantastic directions, the end of Tender Napalm
pulls you back far enough to see everything in vivid, impressionistic detail. R MITCHELL MILLER. Shoebox Theatre, 2110 SE 10th Ave., bethjthompson.com. 8 pm Wednesday-Saturday, through September 2. $20.
TENDER NAPALM 38
Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
Hear Me Roar CAT PATROL ISN’T REALLY ABOUT CATS. BY B EN N ETT CA MPB ELL FER GU SON
Last April, Portland-based comedians Alissa Jessup and Brooke Totman had a revelation—they’re really funny together. The duo met while working on Portland Center Stage’s sketch show Identity Crisis in the spring. By June, they had teamed up with fellow improviser Chris Caniglia to found Northeast’s Ape Theater. Since then, the Ape has been holding regular improv shows and classes. But Cat Patrol is the theater’s first long-form scripted work. As promised, the new show features some feline-filled video footage. But featured just as prominently are the likes of faux Australians and elderly women who attack a supermarket worker in a flurry of darkly entertaining violence. Cat Patrol is less interested in telling a story than it is in showcasing the chameleonic talents of Jessup and Totman, the show’s only actors, who portray characters of so many different temperaments that it’s not hard to imagine them single-handedly filling out the entire cast of Les Misérables. That’s both Cat Patrol’s greatest strength and its most meddlesome weakness. Written by Jessup and Totman and directed by Caniglia, the show occasionally feels like it’s aiming for quantity over quality. But at its best, Cat Patrol offers jolts of joyous silliness and canny satire of gender roles from show writers Jessup and Totman, who have a cheerful but gutsy way of sending up sexism. One of the show’s first skits is an infomercial for pubic waxing. Jessup plays the casting director and Totman plays a failed television actress reduced to administering said wax. It’s mostly concerned with cingey humor, but like the rest of Cat Patrol, the sketch turns out to be about some-
thing more. When Jessup’s character laments the lack of roles for women in television and film (both Jessup and Totman have a long list of TV credits), she doesn’t just make a point. She highlights what makes the show so special: Jessup and Totman clearly can’t be confined to typecasting. Still, as to be expected with such a long list of characters, there are a few who seem half-baked, like a pair of twins in three of the show’s video segments who appear to be Australian, but turn out to simply be much-too-devoted fans of Crocodile Dundee. Yet even when Cat Patrol flounders, Jessup, Totman and Caniglia keep it afloat with the show’s dizzying transformations, punctuated with odd flourishes, including a beautifully bizarre interlude where an actor in a Darth Vader mask attempts to sing karaoke. The show includes some delightfully schadenfreude-inducing scenarios, like a solo turn by Totman, who plays a party guest in the midst of an emotional meltdown. But the show also has surprisingly touching scenes, like when Jessup and Totman play janitors who abruptly quit cleaning to dance to Spandau Ballet’s “True.” At first, the gag seems to revolve around the mustache and floppy wig Totman wears. Yet as the mood of the scene shifts from silly to romantic, it’s hard not to appreciate what Cat Patrol is really about: the possibilities for reinvention comedy affords. That may sound like a simple idea, but in the hands of Jessup and Totman, it’s a powerful one, and the reason why Cat Patrol is less a meow than an almighty roar. SEE IT: Cat Patrol is at the Ape Theater at 126 NE Alberta St., catpatrols.com. 7:30 Friday-Saturday, through September 16. $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
VISUAL ARTS COURTESY OF WILLIAMSON | KNIGHT
REVIEW
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A Letter to My Wife and Hanging Around (Healing Sausages for Communal Gathering).
Love and Hate THERE’S A LOT MORE TO TO LEAVE NO TRACE THAN RAW BACON. BY SHANNON GORMLEY
sgormley@wweek.com
Inside Williamson | Knight gallery is a grotesque scene. Across from the entrance, there’s a dirt-crusted metal ladder decorated with sagging sausages. Some are plopped on rungs, others droop in their suspended casing. In another corner, there’s a floor-to-ceiling column of crayfish traps. Inside the traps are pieces of fatty bacon stretched out on blue string like fleshy mobiles. There’s a white canvas that displays the words “You are a lunatic” in black paint. Derek Franklin’s To Leave No Trace is the first exhibit by a Portland artist at Williamson | Knight, and the gallery’s fourth show. Williamson | Knight kicked off its first year of programming last May in the space that formerly belonged to Hap Gallery, where Iris Williamson was associate director. After three years of programming, Hap Gallery closed its doors at the end of last year. But only a few months later, Williamson teamed up with John Knight of Cherry and Lucic to keep the prime Pearl District property as a contemporary gallery. Since then, Williamson | Knight have been hosting some of the city’s boldest and most intriguing art shows. They opened their doors with Sheida Soleimani’s Social Learning Theory, which displayed pixelated photos of women executed by the Iranian government, printed onto cloth sculptures shaped like Bobo Dolls. Their last exhibit, Stolen Angels, was a collaboration with Don’t Shoot PDX that featured works by communities members who have lost loved ones to police brutality and white supremacy.
So it’s all the more strange that such an emotionally intense exhibit is followed by what initially seems cheeky. The “You are a lunatic” canvas is titled A Letter To My Wife. The sausages are goofily referred to in the title of the work as Healing Sausages. But once you know the sensitive, personal backstories behind each piece, it would seem callous to dismiss the works as edgy nonsense. A Letter To My Wife is not Franklin calling his wife a lunatic, it’s him processing the fact that someone else called her a lunatic in response to her support of removing Confederate flags from state buildings. There’s bacon in the crayfish traps because that’s what Franklin used as a kid to lure crayfish from their underwater homes. And the sausages are really meant to have healing properties: instead of meat, they’re made of lard and fennel, ingredients that could be ingested or used as a kind of slimy, gritty lotion. It’s difficult to imagine someone interpreting those backstories from the works alone. So for the most part, discovering their intended meaning requires talking to a gallery staffer (Williamson herself is usually on hand). Asking questions about art in a gallery can seem just as intimidating as asking a stranger for directions, so it’s not exactly a bad thing that To Leave No Trace encourages conversation. Besides, it’s convention for contemporary artists not to force an interpretation onto their audience. But the stories behind Franklin’s pieces are hardly dead ends. Each work seems so changed with their backstories, that without them, To Leave No Trace feels like it’s portraying the violence it’s trying to critique without hinting at the sensitive worldview it’s really concerned with. SEE IT: To Leave No Trace is at Williamson | Knight Gallery, 916 NW Flanders St., williamsonknight.com. Through Sept. 29.
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#wweek
BOOKS = WW Pick. Highly recommended.
REVIEW
BY DANA ALSTON. 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.
E Z O BO
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30 Daniel Magariel
Cap your Hump Day on a lighter note with a heartfelt story about two brothers trying to reconcile the sins of their divorced, abusive father. Magariel’s debut, One of the Boys, follows a 12-year-old boy and his older brother as they try to keep their broken family from falling apart inside a tiny apartment in New Mexico. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 800-878-7323, powellscom. 7:30 pm. Free.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31 Nate Dern
Most kids in the 2000s remember “The Landlord,” the Funny or Die video that featured a shouting match between Will Ferrell and a toddler looking for rent. More than a decade later, Funny or Die is still producing content with high-profile stars, and Dern’s one of their senior writers. Now he’s got a book of stories and essays titled Not Quite a Genius. Also included: an open letter to Charles Manson and a piece on the frustrations of WiFi terms and conditions. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 800-878-7323, powellscom. 7:30 pm. Free.
This Is: Essays On Jazz
So, ya like jazz? Journalist Aaron Gilbreath’s collection of essays on the genre’s height in the mid-20th century focuses on the lesser-known corners of the scene—the tragedy of Hank Mobley or the self-exile of pianist Jutta Hipp—complementing stories about giants like Coltrane. It’s sure to make every sophisticated hipster squeal with delight over the seven more obscure Davis albums they can use to filigree the edges of their Bitches Brew LP. Get it now before the genre inevitably dies out in the next two decades. Yeah, that’s a hot take. Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, 723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 503-288-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 5 Carlos Reyes
There’s an adage that says great writing can come from anywhere. For Reyes—a Portland poet born to farm laborers in 1935—it comes from a lifetime of odd job titles, including “powder monkey” and “coffinfactory employee.” On Tuesday, he’ll read from his 10th collection of poems, Guilt in Our Pockets, based on his travels from Mexico to Spain to India and a smattering of countries in between. With an eye for detail from the perspective of the working man, his writing critiques American privilege and examines other cultures with a careful and caring eye. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway St., 503-284-1726, broadwaybooks.net. 7 pm. Free.
Caesar’s Last Breath
You remember those impossible diagrams of the nitrogen cycle in grade school? This is that on some serious steroids. Sam Kean’s science odyssey Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us traces the history and journey of all the air we breathe through the eons and around the globe and then down into your lungs, where it tickles. Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, on Hawthorne, 723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-288-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.
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Willamette Week AUGUST 30, 2017 wweek.com
Rene Denfeld,
THE CHILD FINDER Only three chapters into The Child Finder (Harper, 288 pages, $25.99), the reader discovers the solution to the mystery the protagonist spends the rest of the novel trying to unravel: Madison, who went missing three years ago at the age of five in a snowy Oregon wilderness, is still alive. She’s been abducted by a deaf, illiterate pedophile. Portland author Rene Denfeld’s second novel switches perspectives between Madison and Naomi, the investigator Madison’s parents have hired to find her. Naomi is a self-trained detective gifted at finding lost children. “She had started the work when she was 20—unusually early, she knew, for an investigator,” writes Denfeld. “But, as she sometimes commented ruefully, she was called to it.” For a while, the details we learn about Naomi only make her seem more generic. She is a lone wolf who searches for lost children because of her own childhood that she’s forgotten due to an unknown trauma. She’s younger and prettier than people expect she’ll be. She’s recklessly brave while on the job, yet afraid of love. But then, we meet Madison. Though by that time, she’s dubbed herself Snow Girl. Madison has been abducted by a man we only know as Mr. B, who survives in the wilderness by trapping animals and occasionally trading piles of fur for groceries at a remote general store. Snow Girl has decided that she must have been born from the ceaselessly snowy landscape, and that her life as Madison “was as real as the smoke on the mountains that turns out to be rain, as the cry of the animal that sounds like a child but is not.” As she attempts to process years of rape, it’s equally upsetting how much and how little Madison can understand. “Her body belonged to the woods, and if at times the woods came and crept inside her—why that was the price you paid. Paid for what? her heart asked. Paid for living, her soul answered.” Denfeld renders Madison’s horrific three years in Mr. B’s cabin with such lucid empathy that its depths echo through every other part of the book. Madison makes everyone else seem more human. Rather than critique the character of Naomi, the reader begins to comprehend the pain of what she must have experienced in her own childhood. Even Mr. B becomes as tragic as monstrous. “The moon, B had noticed, awakened the dawn, and so the two—like pale cousins—never saw each other . . . That was how B thought of himself. A secret part of him longed for the sun.” This is made all the more affecting when you consider Denfeld’s profession: She works as an investigator on death penalty cases. The moral lesson The Child Finder offers is not new—that hope and humanity can be found in even the darkest places. But the extent to which Denfeld practices that belief is deeply touching, even remarkable. SHANNON GORMLEY. GO: Rene Denfeld reads Tuesday, September 5, at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., powells.com. 7:30 pm. Free.
MOVIES C O U R T E S Y O F P O R T L A N D D A N C E F I L M F E S T I VA L
Screener
GET YO U R REPS IN
Fargo
(1996)
Pix’s free movie-and-drinks series bookends its summer stretch with Fargo, the classic tale of upper-Midwestern murder and mayhem, which went on to inspire the excellent FX series of the same name. Pix/Bar Vivant. August 30.
Spring Breakers
(2012)
The jury is still out on whether Harmony Korine and his creepy-ass movies are actually good or not. Nonetheless, his movie about a group of teens who team up with a rapper named Alien, played by James Franco, and turn to armed robbery, is a lot of heavyhanded fun. Watch it on the roof of the Hotel deLuxe as part of NW Film Center’s Top Down series. Hotel deLuxe. August 31.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001) CURING ALBRECHT, WHICH WILL SCREEN ON PDFF’S THIRD NIGHT OF PICKS.
First Dance
PDFF IS PORTLAND’S MOST VIBEY, ABSTRACT FILM FESTIVAL. BY SHANNON GORMLEY
sgormley@wweek.com
Kailee McMurran gets that modern dance films sound intimidating. “With narrative or spoken films, you’re going to get it because they’re telling you what it is,” says McMurran. “Compared to dance where you just get more of a feeling or an emotion.” McMurran is the founder of Portland modern dance company SubRosa, and now, the Portland Dance Film Festival. The brand-new PDFF will screen 25 dance films selected from 158 international submissions. It’s an exciting platform for an experimental medium with a growing audience—last spring, Contact, another Portland dance film festival, completed its second year. This summer, NW Film Center hosted a screening of several Portland-made dance films, including SubRosa’s Living the Room. It was through Living the Room that McMurran was introduced to dance films. Once SubRosa started entering its film to international dance film festivals, “We’d see their trailers and you would just get sneak peaks of this amazing dance film that was out there,” says McMurran. “It made me realize that I wanted more of that.” Still, dance films are hardly mainstream. They risk seeming highly esoteric, considering they combine two things
many people find hard to grasp: modern dance and experimental films. But according to McMurran, dance for film can be more accessible to a mass audience than dance for a stage. “The camera can direct your gaze at very specific things,” says McMurran. “Onstage, you’re looking at the mass of whatever is going on.” Of course, dance films are more accessible in a literal way, too. “You’re going to reach a much broader audience,” says McMurran. “People who don’t live in cities and don’t have dance stuff that’s going on every weekend, they now have access to these dances.” The nine films that screened on the first night are as compelling for their cinematography as they are for their strange use of movement. Chimera, a French film by choreographer Cathy Ematchoua and director Steven Briand, is a feat of editing. Less than two minutes long, the film splices together four different dancers moving in brightly patterned costumes against a black background, seamlessly overlapping dancers’ frantic movements and occasionally morphing them into one body. The graceful choreography in MARS & VENUS, Opposition Phases, another French film, would seem simply placid if it wasn’t for the eerie setting. A ballerina twirls and leaps in the outline of a circle in
a cavernous warehouse. Sometimes, all we see of dancer Alice Renavand is her hands fluttering around the edge of the shot to the sound of her pointe shoes shuffling across the floor, or their stiff plastic hitting the ground after a leaps. Other times, the camera pans out of the shot entirely into the dark shadows in the corners of the room. Like most of the films in the lineup, it’s vibey and abstract in a way that isn’t overly arty—it’s pure suspense. More than encouraging people to be comfortable with abstraction, PDFF seems concerned with proliferation. Along with its screenings, the festival will host a panel of choreographers as well as cinematographers who can provide guidance and inspiration for those looking to make dance films of their own. “I think just with the ability of taking cellphone shots or cameras being a little more accessible, it just seems like ‘let’s just grab a camera and go to the river and do a dance film,’” says McMurran. The films in PDFF’s lineup don’t look DIY, but McMurran says she’s hopes that’s more inspiring than encouraging. “I think it seems really daunting and it is a lot of work,” she says. “But it’s possible and I want to make that clear.” SEE IT: Portland Dance Film Festival runs through Sunday, Sept. 3. See portlanddancefilmfest.com for event schedule.
Before Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper and Amy Poehler were all extremely famous—and most of the rest of the cast normally famous—they starred in David Wain’s hilarious sendup of ’80s camp comedies, Wet Hot American Summer. The second reboot, released on Netflix earlier this month, might have been just okay, but the original is still pretty great. Laurelhurst, August 29-31.
Valley Girl
(1983)
It’s like Romeo & Juliet except for the fact that it’s about the relationship between a Valley Girl and a punk. Valley Girl is rampant with ’80s anachronisms. It features the bubble gummiest of soundtracks packed with pop hits that are truly of their time. If nothing else, it’s worth it for Cage’s weird ‘80s haircut. Hollywood, Sept. 3.
Double Indemnity
(1944)
Billy Wilder’s pitch-black, pitch perfect Double Indemnity is perhaps the finest film noir of all time. So naturally, it features a mysterious murder and moody men who seem to only wear suits. NW Film Center, Sept. 3-4.
ALSO PLAYING: Academy: Enter The Dragon (1973), Sept. 1-7. The Dark Crystal (1982), trough August 31. Clinton: Throw Away Your Books, Rally In The Streets (1971), August 30. Clueless (1995), Sept. 4. Joy: The Nutty Professor (1963), August 30-31. Vertigo (1958), August 31. Laurelhurst: Westworld (1973), August 30-31. Mission: Working Girl (1988), August 30-Sept. 4. Conan The Barbarian (1982), Sept. 4-10. NW Film: Inland Empire (2006), Sept. 1-2.
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MOVIES : This movie sucks, don’t watch it.
Dunkirk
: 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 Patticake$
Patricia Dombrowski aka Killa P aka Patticake$ is an aspiring rapper. She’s undeniably talented, but she doesn’t fit the template of what the music industry expects a rapper to look like—she’s a fat white girl. The “chasing your dreams” picture is not a new idea. It usually goes something like this: The main character has a talent and a dream. They usually live in a shitty place and have a shitty job, which is only extra motivation for their ultimate goal. Obstacles and rivals rise and fall in front of them, and then there’s a final test which shows off their skills, heart, dedication. It probably doesn’t matter if they win or lose. Within that framework, director Geremy Jasper’s first feature film is pretty entertaining. Patti is charming and relatable. She’s filled simultaneously with self-confidence and self-doubt. Australian actress Danielle Macdonald gives one of those performances where it would be difficult to imagine anyone else playing them now: like Tony Soprano or Napoleon Dynamite. The story takes place in a fully developed world of suburban New Jersey’s hell of highways, parking lots and gas stations. Jasper, who also wrote the script, imbues the world with subtle attention to detail and tough love for his characters that reminds me a bit of Mike Leigh. But ultimately, Patticake$ is a simple story done well, with lively performances and positive energy. R. R MITCHELL MILLER. Hollywood.
The Only Living Boy in New York
In this coming-of-age story of the utmost pretensions, Jeff Bridges narrates the post-grad adventures of Thomas Webb (Callum Turner) through a mire of daddy issues and fragile masculinity. Fraught with the idea that authentic, creative, Lou Reed New York has “lost its soul,” Thomas is a lanky amalgamation of the uber-nostalgicfuckboy aesthetic, including tortoiseshell-framed glasses and lines like, “I’m into rare, vintage books.” After a mysterious neighbor (Jeff Bridges) becomes a paternal spirit guide through his millennial malaise, Thomas spots his father (Pierce Brosnan) with another woman one night and his life becomes the 1970s erotic thriller he always hoped it’d be. Director Marc Webb offers some reprieve from eye rolls with brisk, whodunit pacing as Thomas’ mission to stalk and confront the beautiful other woman, Johanna (Kate Beckinsale), builds into a lusty infatuation. But the film is consistently dragged down by the trite conversations lamenting Thomas’ insecurities in the face of his father’s successful publishing career and sexual forays. The attempt at witty banter thinly veils the overall theme of bitter men who thought they’d be writers, and the women who they’ll think back on as muses. Though if you miss the stickysweet cliches in Webb’s previous work, 500 Days of Summer, you won’t be disappointed. R. LAUREN TERRY. Bridgeport, City Center, Fox Tower.
STILL SHOWING A Ghost Story
In David Lowry’s emotional exercise in magical realism, we’re treated to fine performances from Affleck and critical darling Rooney Mara in a timehopping story about a ghost and the house where he lived. Lowry’s vision is on full display here, and the result is one of 2017’s most powerful films. R. DANA ALSTON. Academy, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst.
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about Detroit, notably very strong performances by Smith and Poulter. R. R MITCHELL MILLER. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Living Room Theaters, Vancouver.
Atomic Blonde
An adaptation of the Oni Press graphic novel Coldest City, Atomic Blonde depicts Berlin at the Cold War’s last gasp. Charlize Theron plays a British secret agent set to meet up with James McAvoy’s rogue operative and rescue a vital informant from East Germany. Even with the playfully stylized flourishes teasing coherency from a pointlessly complicated narrative, the film has a giddy devotion to its own daft momentum. R. JAY HORTON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Fox Tower, Lloyd, Tigard, Vancouver.
Baby Driver
It takes a scant five minutes for Baby Driver to feel like one of the best car-chase films of all time. At the wheel is Baby (Ansel Elgort, whose face really sells the “Baby” business), who combats his tinnitus by constantly pumping tunes through his earbuds. Every sequence plays out perfectly to the music in Baby’s ears. This is a movie where violence and velocity are played up to surrealist levels while remaining relatively grounded in reality. It’s hysterically funny, but not a straight comedy. It’s often touching, but seldom cloying. It’s the hyper-stylish car chase opera the world deserves. R. AP KRYZA. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Division, Fox Tower, Tigard.
Brigsby Bear
We meet James Pope (Kyle Mooney), superfan of a show called Brigsby Bear Adventures, which is like if you mixed Buck Rogers with a firstgen Teddy Ruxpin doll. James lives in an underground fallout bunker. As it turns out, James was kidnapped Jwhen he was an infant and the bunker and Brigsby were merely tools to distract him from his imprisonment. So when James learns there is no such thing as Brigsby—aside from those episodes produced by Ted, now in prison —he sets out to finish the story. Brigsby Bear is whimsical, sweet and ambitious. Is it funny? Sort of. Brigsby Bear is not a film for most people, but if you suspect it might be for you, I encourage you to go and find out. PG-13. R MITCHELL MILLER. Bridgeport, Fox Tower, Kiggins, Vancouver.
Despicable Me 3
Conventional Hollywood wisdom dictates that animated children’s movies must vigorously trumpet the merits of kindness (good!) and condemn the evils of selfishness (bad!). But this anarchic entry in the Despicable Me franchise eschews forced wholesomeness and delivers a truckload of dumb fun. PG. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Division, Empirical, Milwaukie, Tigard, Vancouver.
Detroit
The beginning of Detroit, we’re in a war zone, but it’s Detroit, not Baghdad. Looting and destruction are inflicted by some, not all, and there are good cops and monstrous cops, and it’s not easy to tell what’s what. We meet Larry Reed (Algee Smith) and his R&B group the Dramatics at the Fox Theater. Just as they’re about to go onstage, the announcement comes that the show has been canceled due to rioting. Larry heads to his $11 room at the Algiers Motel. One thing leads to another, and the Detroit police come to believe they’re under attack by the Algiers guests. What happens there is harrowing, and will leave you feeling emotionally drained. Perhaps the filmmakers thought it was too harrowing because the Algiers incident comes to an abrupt end and the last 30 minutes of the film deal with the aftermath. Despite a third act that doesn’t really fit with the first two, there’s a lot to like
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In Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. we get to follow a few soldiers and pilots and civilians at sea, but they’re more like stand-ins for the other 400,000 like them marooned on the beach or assisting in the rescue effort. That’s fine, though. This movie doesn’t really need characters, and wasting time on distracting details like what’s waiting at home for these boys would only slow down the headlong pacing of the operation. I don’t think this film will win Best Picture at next year’s Oscars, but it’s a shoo-in a handful of technical nominations. PG-13. R. MITCHELL MILLER. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Fox Tower, Hollywood, Oak Grove, Tigard, Vancouver.
Get Out
Rough Night
In Lucia Aniello’s first feature film about millennial women behaving badly, five college friends reunite for Jess’s (Scarlett Johansson) bachelorette weekend in Miami. The cast is packed with America’s stoner, foul-mouthed sweethearts, including Ilana Glazer from Broad City, Jillian Bell (Workaholics), SNL’s Kate McKinnon and Zoë Kravitz. Rough Night doesn’t revolutionize wild weekend movies, but it’s a smart skewering of the bro’d out black comedies that have dominated the R-rated genre. R. LAUREN TERRY. Vancouver.
Wind River
Wyoming’s Wind River is a hell of a place to examine an ignored America and a fitting setting for a noir thriller. In the directorial debut from Taylor Sheridan (writer of Sicario and Hell or High Water) a game tracker (Jeremy Renner) discovers the frozen body of a
young Native woman. A hardscrabble investigation unfolds, and the tracker joins forces with an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen), the tribal police chief (Graham Greene) and myriad snowmobiles. There are constant references to predators and prey, and it’s fueled with male aggression and female pain. But while those pitfalls are common, Wind River’s unexplored geography, depth of spirit and honoring of survivalism are not. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Clackamas, Eastport, Fox Tower, Vancouver.
Wonder Woman
I never thought I’d get a lump in my throat watching a superhero movie, but here we are. Patty Jenkins’ telling of Diana Prince’s (Gal Gadot) WWI origin deftly balances action, romance, comedy and emotional heft like no other in genre has. PG-13. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Milwaukie, Pioneer Place, Tigard, Vancouver.
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Editor: SHANNON GORMLEY. 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: sgormley@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
Yes, this movie is as good as everyone says it is, enough so that it makes you ask why other horror movies aren’t better. R. Laurelhurst.
Good Time
Constantine Nikas is positive his little brother shouldn’t be institutionalized for his mental disability. And that’s all we learn about the hyperactive Queens street tough (Robert Pattinson) before he and his brother rob a bank. This pacing is crucial to the Safdie brothers’ forceful new thriller. As movies about robbery and the ensuing chase go, it’s more like being dragged behind the getaway car than observing from the passenger seat. Amid the chaos, Pattinson as Constantine cuts a fascinating figure. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Clackamas, Fox Tower, Hollywood.
Ingrid Goes West
Title character Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza)’s social media addiction has a dark side, as evidenced by that time she crashed a wedding and maced the bride, a stranger who snubbed her on Instagram. After a brief stay in a mental health treatment facility, Ingrid wipes her slate clean by finding a new Instagram celebrity to stalk: the cool and worldly Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). This is the best part of the film, as Ingrid does whatever it takes to try to meet and impress her new friend. But once she does, Ingrid is no longer consumed by checking Instagram every moment of every day, and the film becomes less of a dark satire about social media addiction and fame. It devolves into more of a conventional comedy about quirky millennials.. R. R MITCHELL MILLER. Clackamas, Fox Tower.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Films like The Hitman’s Bodyguard live and die on the addled chemistry between mismatched leads, and the endlessly enjoyable sparks that fly between Reynolds and Jackson render further criticism irrelevant. R. JAY HORTON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Lloyd, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, St. Johns Twin Cinema & Pub, Tigard, Vancouver.
Logan Lucky
In his comeback heist film, Steven Soderbergh seems actively disinterested in challenging his legacy. This story of a supposedly cursed West Virginia family, The Logans, ripping off the Charlotte Motor Speedway, nickname themselves “Ocean’s 7-11” on an in-movie newscast. As the Logan brothers, Channing Tatum and Adam Driver, are laconic and weatherbeaten, gentle roughnecks who need a win in this life. And as explosives expert Joe Bang, Daniel Craig’s brilliance is in appearing like a maniac but never detonating. Soderbergh is perhaps Hollywood’s finest technician, and it’s a pleasure to watch him tour his Vegas act through Appalachia. PG-13. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Bagdad, Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Cinemagic Theatre, City Center, Clackamas, Division, Eastport, Fox Tower, Lloyd, Oak Grove, Roseway, St. Johns Twin Cinema & Pub, Tigard, Vancouver.
FROM NILI YOSHA’S THE LOST BOYS OF PORTLANDIA.
Lost and Found
Portland filmmaker Nili Yosha has a large legacy to live up to. In 1973, her parents Yaky and Dorit Yosha made Shalom, Israel’s first anti-war film, and were the first filmmakers to represent Israel at the Cannes Film Festival. “They’re hippies that never cut their hair or put on a suit,” says Yosha. “I was raised seeing that film was a way of making the world a better place, or to try.” That’s exactly what Yosha is doing with Outside the Frame—a nonprofit to help homeless youth learn to make films. Yosha’s latest film, the short documentary The Lost Boys of Portlandia, profiles Outside’s work by depicting Yosha helping a group of homeless teenagers film their own version of Peter Pan. “I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I just started talking to them about Peter Pan and it resonated,” Yosha says. In an early scene, the group sits around a table discussing how they relate to the characters of Peter Pan’s world. “There was a decent part of me looking for someone to save me,” says one of the actors. The 2016 film screens this week at Mission Theater’s PDX Short Docs Fest. Lost Boys isn’t the only documentary on the lineup that addresses homelessness—there’s also Grant Burgess’ At the Corner and p:ear by festival organizer and filmmaker Todd Biaze. Like Lost Boys, Biaze’s p:ear profiles the successes of a local organization that provides creative mentorship to homeless youth, p:ear gallery. One student in the film is able to get off the streets by paying for rent with his art, while others learn to be baristas at the gallery. At the Corner is a sixminute look into the world of the Moser family, who spend each day trying to earn enough money for a hotel room. The film captures the Mosers on a successful day, which the narrator tells us isn’t always typical. True to its day-in-the-life format, At the Corner doesn’t try to find answers. But according to Yosha, the films provide something more than just promotion for nonprofits. “A lot of people like to speak on behalf of young people,” she says. “This is an opportunity for them to speak directly. They have a lot to say, and it’s critical for us to listen to them.” JOSH O’ROURKE. Portland filmmakers attempt to address homelessness.
SEE IT: The Lost Boys of Portlandia will screen along with 15 other short documentaries as part of PDX Short Docs at Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St. 7 pm. Sunday, September 3. $5 suggested donation.
Growing Pains I’M TERRIBLE AT GROWING WEED. AND YET I HAVEN’T TOTALLY FAILED. BE INSPIRED. BY DANA ALSTON alston@wweek.com
There comes a time in every man’s life when he must intern at an alt-weekly and grow pot on a roof. My time came this summer, when I managed to nab a position at WW and was promptly given responsibility for our office’s batch of pot plants. Growing weed on our roof has been an annual tradition for three years now. Harvests have been solid but unspectacular. Too bad I have no idea what I’m doing. Worse: I’m pretty sure my boss could tell. His response, complete with a slight sigh and subtle eye roll, was telling. “Just, you know, do it.” Sure thing. My ineptitude as a weed grower wasn’t going to stop me from blogging about my experience. And now that I’m a few months into the grow, I figured it was time to get you caught up. My first week on the job was...kinda rough. Our four plants were all in misshapen cardboard boxes and barely tall enough to peek over those boxes edges. This was my first time growing pot—or growing anything—and I was completely unprepared. Google helped, especially when I was learning about our four initial plants: Dream Lotus, Girl Scout Cookie, Headband and Texada Timewarp. But knowing how long it would
take to harvest didn’t help me very much when I couldn’t read the instructions on the back of a fertilizer bottle. That’s right, folks—I didn’t dilute the fertilizer. Couple my negligence with a brutal heat wave—it reached triple digits in July and August—and it only took a week or two for the plants to die. All of them. The massacre was as brutal as it was completely my fault. Thus began the search for new clones. I left my email at the bottom of one of the posts, betraying every warning from my baby boomer parents about the dangers of the internet, in a desperate attempt to get someone’s pot. Somehow, it worked. I got around 10 emails from some of our readers who had plants with which they were willing to part. It was pretty amazing that I didn’t receive any hate mail, especially considering I had just emerged from a bloody botanical genocide. We secured a couple new strains (Harlequin and Dogwalker) from a kindly gentleman named Ron, who drove an hour just to drop them off. Shoutout for the assist, Ron. Next came the repotting process. You see, Harlequin and Dogwalker were in 15-gallon pots, both of which had to make it onto the roof. Climbing a ladder with that kind of hindrance isn’t exactly efficient (or possible), so we had to remove the plant from the pot as gently as possible, place the plant in a plastic bag, carry that bag up a ladder and pot the plant. I t w o r ke d o u t p r ett y w e l l . And by “pretty well,” I mean the Harlequin succumbed to the heat and died in about a week. The Dogwalker—bless her heart—has grown into a beautiful, healthy plant.
At the end of this very rigorous learning process, it’s clear I suck as a grower. But I’m learning, and there was no way I was g oing to let Dogwalker die. I threw myself into making her happy. This time, I occasionally tossed a couple teaspoons of fertilizer into the bucket of water I use—that’s right, I’m actually diluting it—and she’s been growing at a fast rate ever since. In fact, I found a couple of bees hovering around her the other day, which proba b l y m e a n s w e h a v e f l o w e r s o n t h e w a y. E x c i t i n g s t u f f . I’ve been told that I’m the worst pot-growing intern this newsroom has ever seen. It’s not even close. Yet here we are, six weeks away from harvest, with one healthy plant. Remember, a D minus doesn’t technically count as failure. It’s just really close.
GREE
N A F.
PHOTO BY DANA ALSTON SHITTY COLLAGE BY ROSIE STRUVE
end roll
LUSH AN D L I T. DON’T LEAVE ME H I G H A N D D R Y.
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Week of August 31
FIRST FRIDAY SALE! ALL DAY 9/1 ARIES (March 21-April 19):
“We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems,” said businessman Lee Iacocca. You are currently wrestling with an example of this phenomenon, Aries. The camouflage is well-rendered. To expose the opportunity hidden beneath the apparent dilemma, you may have to be more strategic and less straightforward than you usually are -- cagier and not as blunt. Can you manage that? I think so. Once you crack the riddle, taking advantage of the opportunity should be interesting.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
Close your eyes and imagine this: You and a beloved ally get lost in an enchanted forest, discover a mysterious treasure, and find your way back to civilization just before dark. Now visualize this: You give a dear companion a photo of your face taken on every one of your birthdays, and the two of you spend hours talking about your evolution. Picture this: You and an exciting accomplice luxuriate in a sun-lit sanctuary surrounded by gourmet snacks as you listen to ecstatic music and bestow compliments on each other. These are examples of the kinds of experiments I invite you to try in the coming weeks. Dream up some more! Here’s a keynote to inspire you: *sacred fun.*
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
On its album Jefferson’s Tree of Liberty, Jefferson Starship plays a song I co-wrote, “In a Crisis.” On its album *Deeper Space/Virgin Sky,* the band covers another tune I co-wrote, “Dark Ages.” Have I received a share of the record sales? Not a penny. Am I upset? Not at all. I’m glad the songs are being heard and enjoyed. I’m gratified that a world-famous, multi-platinum band chose to record them. I’m pleased my musical creations are appreciated. Now here’s my question for you, Gemini: Has some good thing of yours been “borrowed”? Have you wielded a benevolent influence that hasn’t been fully acknowledged? I suggest you consider adopting an approach like mine. It’s prime time to adjust your thinking about how your gifts and talents have been used, applied, or translated.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Author Roger von Oech tells us that creativity often involves “the ability to take something out of one context and put it into another so that it takes on new meanings.” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, this strategy could and should be your specialty in the coming weeks. “The first person to look at an oyster and think food had this ability,” says von Oech. “So did the first person to look at sheep intestines and think guitar strings. And so did the first person to look at a perfume vaporizer and think gasoline carburetor.” Be on the lookout, Cancerian, for inventive substitutions and ingenious replacements.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
When famous socialite Nan Kempner was young, her mother took her shopping at Yves Saint Laurent’s salon. Nan got fixated on a certain white satin suit, but her mean old mother refused to buy it for her. “You’ve already spent too much of your monthly allowance,” mom said. But the resourceful girl came up with a successful gambit. She broke into sobs, and continued to cry nonstop until the store’s clerks lowered the price to an amount she could afford. You know me, Leo: I don’t usually recommend resorting to such extreme measures to get what you want. But now is one time when I am giving you a go-ahead to do just that.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
The computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the miraculous communication system that we know as the World Wide Web. When asked if he had any regrets about his pioneering work, he named just one. There was no need for him to have inserted the double slash -“//” -- after the “http:” in web addresses. He’s sorry that Internet users have had to type those irrelevant extra characters so many billions of times. Let this serve as a teaching story for you, Virgo. As you create innovations in the coming weeks, be mindful of how you shape the basic features. The details you include in the beginning may endure.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
The sadness you feel might be the most fertile sadness you have felt in a long time. At least potentially, it has tremendous motivating power. You could respond to it by mobilizing changes that would dramatically diminish the sadness you feel in the coming years, and also make it less likely that sadness-provoking events will come your way. So I invite you to express gratitude for your current sadness. That’s the crucial first step if you want to harness it to work wonders.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
“Don’t hoot with the owls at night if you want to crow with the rooster in the morning,” advised Miss Georgia during the Miss Teen USA Pageant. Although that’s usually good counsel, it may not apply to you in the coming weeks. Why? Because your capacity for revelry will be at an all-time high, as will your ability to be energized rather than drained by your revelry. It seems you have a special temporary superpower that enables you both to have maximum fun and get a lot of work done.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
During this phase of your astrological cycle, it makes sense to express more leadership. If you’re already a pretty good guide or role model, you will have the power to boost your benevolent influence to an even higher level. For inspiration, listen to educator Peter Drucker: “Leadership is not magnetic personality. That can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people.’ That is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, raising a person’s performance to a higher standard, building a personality beyond its normal limitations.”
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
“One should always be a little improbable,” said Oscar Wilde. That’s advice I wouldn’t normally give a Capricorn. You thrive on being grounded and straightforward. But I’m making an exception now. The astrological omens compel me. So what does it mean, exactly? How might you be “improbable”? Here are suggestions to get you started. 1. Be on the lookout for inspiring ways to surprise yourself. 2. Elude any warped expectations that people have of you. 3. Be willing to change your mind. Open yourself up to evidence that contradicts your theories and beliefs. 4. Use telepathy to contact Oscar Wilde in your dreams, and ask him to help you stir up some benevolent mischief or compassionate trouble.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
A modern Israeli woman named Shoshana Hadad got into trouble because of an event that occurred long before she was born. In 580 B.C., one of her male ancestors married a divorced woman, which at that time was regarded as a sin. Religious authorities decreed that as punishment, none of his descendants could ever wed a member of the Cohen tribe. But Hadad did just that, which prompted rabbis to declare her union with Masoud Cohen illegal. I bring this tale to your attention as a way to illustrate the possibility that you, too, may soon have to deal with the consequences of past events. But now that I have forewarned you, I expect you will act wisely, not rashly. You will pass a tricky test and resolve the old matter for good.
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Want to live to be 100? Then be as boring as possible. That’s the conclusion of longevity researchers, as reported by the Weekly World News. To ensure a maximum life span, you should do nothing that excites you. You should cultivate a neutral, blah personality, and never travel far from home. JUST KIDDING! I lied. The Weekly World News is in fact a famous purveyor of fake news. The truth, according to my analysis of the astrological omens, is that you should be less boring in the next seven weeks than you have ever been in your life. To do so will be superb for your health, your wealth, and your future.
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1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700
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