Willamette Week, December 7, 2022 - Volume 49, Issue 5 - "The Arts List: 25 People Shaping the Arts"

In 2004, a federal judge ruled the city of Portland wasn’t responsible for a Bush protester’s lost Birkenstocks

7

The Portland Water Bureau is back to burying a drinkingwater pipeline in alluvial mud

8

Young Sleezy might own Shroom House. 11

Isaac Brock just wants to listen to Raffi 14

Leftovers at 10:30 pm are Jordan Schnitzer’s jam. 16

Joyce Manor, Girlpool, Frankie Cosmos and Big Thief are all Katy Davidson fans. 17

Meet the man who has seen every season of Game of Thrones eight times. 17

The audience is encouraged to participate in a run on the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan at Portland Center Stage’s

production of It’s a Wonderful Life 29

The Portland Art Museum celebrates its 130th anniversary with free admission for all this Saturday. 29

The NOT-Cracker is about a guy who actually can’t dance. 29

Think the only food around what’s left of Mall 205 is chain fare? There is now a restaurant serving Spanish octopus and chipotle beurre blanc . 30

The best dish at Gigantic Brewing’s third location is Flæskesteg , a Danish pork sandwich. 31

Linalool is the terpene that makes certain cannabis strains smell like lavender 33

There was a metaverse before Mark Zuckerberg. 36

Last week’s cover story plumbed a mystery that has vexed Portlanders for the better part of two years: Who is stealing so many catalytic converters, and what are they doing with them? Our investigation tracked auto parts stolen in Bea verton across the country to a Long Island storehouse and a New Jersey metal recycler (“From Portland to Jersey,” WW, Nov. 30). Police detectives and documents from “Operation Heavy Metal” allege that the Oregon ringleader of the trafficking ring was a former Uber driver operating out of a rental home on the shores of Oswego Lake. Here’s what our readers had to say:

SARAH JEONG, VIA TWIT TER: “Cannot emphasize enough how funny it is that the epicenter of the Portland ~ crime epidemic ~ is Lake Oswego.”

ADULATIONS, VIA REDDIT: “I’m from Brooklyn, N.Y. This sounds like some mob shit.”

RONTRUSSLER58, IN REPLY: “Yeah, word gets out when a major metro area doesn’t have law enforcement. Things are going to get worse in Portland if we don’t come down hard on these folks. Homeless people are an aesthetic problem more than they are a safety issue, but the amount of straight-up criminals roaming the streets of Portland is alarming. We shouldn’t lump them in together because even if we housed everyone, the crime ain’t going anywhere without a concerted effort by local, state and federal authorities.”

WIM DE VRIEND, VIA WWEEK.COM: “This the best, most informative investigative piece I’ve seen in WW. I couldn’t even find more than one grammatical error, either.”

16SEMESTERS, VIA REDDIT: “This guy is morally bankrupt. “He didn’t rip off a big busi ness, he stole from the working class, and working poor of Portland. He didn’t just take things worth money, he made people be late for work, school, miss events because they had to get their car fixed. Imagine you’re late for work, just scrap ing by, and you discover your cat was sawed off and stolen? How much harm did this guy create in the mental well-being on the community so he could go to Bali and drive a shitty big truck?

“This guy is the lowest of low. There’s nothing morally gray or another side to look at. He is pure filth and I hope he never has a restful night of sleep the rest of his life.”

RAPACITY, VIA WWEEK. COM: “This bust is the same as going undercover to bust street walkers than promoting it as they are stopping minor sex trafficking. A political move because police can’t actually keep up with the real thieves and are looking to make a big splash to distract us from reality.

“Convertor theft was still increasing until cold weather began setting in, and even still it’s slightly up from last year. This is a real issue, but journalism isn’t about just bootlicking and pretending like the problem disappeared.”

ROY HEMMINGWAY, VIA WWEEK.COM: “This would have been an easy crime to bust through stings, if the Port land Police Bureau had been adequately staffed. [Mayor Ted] Wheeler let the retire ment crisis brew until PPB had fewer police per 1,000 people (less than 1.2) than comparable cities. The average is 2.4. If your catalytic converter gets stolen in Portland, blame Wheeler and the feckless City Council.”

ETHAN COREY, VIA TWITTER: “This is a fascinating illustration of the limits of focusing on low-level arrests to stop street crime: More than one-quarter of catalytic converter thefts in Portland were associated with one guy’s fencing operation.”

BREADLOAFS, VIA REDDIT: “‘Operation Heavy Metal’ is a good name, and I bet whoever brought that one up was the coolest guy in the conference room for, like, four minutes.”

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: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

in Portland can be. Under normal circumstanc es that limit is 460 feet. (The city has occasion ally granted variances to go a bit higher, but they usually regret it.) That means the tallest possible building you could erect in Portland would be in a 10-way tie for 1,072nd-tallest in America, which doesn’t give you much to wave your big “We’re #1!” foam finger about.

My initial reaction to all this talk of skyscraper envy and getting with the big boys, Envious, was to conclude you have an obsession with mightily thrusting towers that might be better suited to Dr. Freud than Dr. Know. Upon reflection, however, I decided you’re hardly the first to use the size of a city’s buildings as a proxy for overall municipal status. If a pecking order among cities is inevitable, I guess I can understand why you’d rather be a pecker than a peckee.

That said, you might want to invest in a peck-proof helmet: The closest thing we have to a 50-story building is the U.S. Bancorp Tower (aka Big Pink) at 42 floors—and it’s probably the closest thing we’ll ever have, so get used to it.

The main reason for our edificial inadequacy is that there’s a legal limit to how tall a building

Worse (at least for a size queen like your self), we’re not likely to get many buildings even that tall anytime soon. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but demand for office space in downtown Portland is not exactly through the roof at the moment, which is the kind of thing that makes banks a bit skittish about lending money.

Demand for residential space is through the roof, of course. However, there’s a lot of opposition to satisfying that demand by building tall residential towers downtown, most of it from people who already live in tall residential towers downtown and are worried about their view of the mountain or whatever. That’s obviously bullshit, but they have money and lawyers, so don’t hold your breath.

In short (heh heh), you should probably learn to love our modestly endowed city as is. You know what they say: It’s not the size of your high-rise, but the zoning where you’re owning that really counts.

Why doesn’t Portland have any build ings taller than 35 stories? If Portland wants to get in with the big-boy cities, we need some 50- and 70-story build ings scraping those ubiquitous winter clouds. — Envious for Skyscrapers

COLUMBIA COUNTY HOUSE MEMBER-ELECT

IN TROUBLE: As first reported Dec. 3 on wweek. com, a judge granted a protective order against state Rep.-elect Brian G. Stout (R-Columbia City) for alleged sexual abuse of a woman in 2021. The judge rejected Stout’s motion to dismiss the order Dec. 5 and set a further hearing for Jan. 13. That’s four days after Stout and other newly elected legislators are set to be sworn in to office in Salem. Lawmakers, legislative staff and lobbyists may not be thrilled about Stout’s presence in the Capitol. “The House speaker and I have been in touch, and we agreed to continue conversations about how to appropriately handle this situation,” says House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville). That echoes what House Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) had to say on the matter: “The allegations against Rep.elect Stout are very serious and disturbing. The Republican leader and I have been in contact, and we are continuing conversations about how to appropriately handle this situation and main tain a safe workplace.”

OREGON’S NEW GUN LAW IN LEGAL LIMBO:

Days before Measure 114 is set to go into effect, the fate of the gun control legislation remains uncertain. It’s mired in litigation as gun rights advocates and county sheriffs plea with judges to strike down the law as unconstitutional. So far, their success has been mixed. On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Karin Immer gut declined to issue a temporary stay on the measure’s implementation, saying the plaintiffs had failed to prove they would “suffer immedi ate and irreparable harm” if the law went into effect. It would prohibit the sale and use of “large-capacity” magazines holding more than 10 rounds and require buyers to pass a criminal background check, complete training, and obtain a permit before purchasing a gun. (Immergut did give buyers a 30-day window in which they could purchase guns without needing to show a permit.) Kevin Starrett, executive director of the Oregon Firearms Federation, called the decision “disappointing” in an email to supporters circu lated online. “Unless something really unexpect ed happens, understand that your rights will be, once again, seriously eroded starting Thursday,” Starrett said. The unexpected did happen. Hours later, a judge in Harney County (population: 7,495) issued a temporary restraining order pre venting Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon Attorney

General Ellen Rosenblum from enforcing the law. Absent this order, Harney County Circuit Judge Rob Raschio wrote, “plaintiffs will be deprived of their right to bear arms.” Whether the law goes into effect Dec. 8 is now up to the Oregon Supreme Court.

NAMES CHIEF AND TRANSITION TEAM

LEADERS: Gov.-elect Tina Kotek named her chief of staff Dec. 6: Andrea Cooper, currently deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kate Brown. Prior to joining Brown’s office in 2020, Cooper served as political director for Service Employees Interna tional Union, the state’s largest public employ ee union. Before that, Cooper ran Future PAC, the House Democrats’ campaign arm. “Andrea Cooper is a skilled manager and a strategic, collaborative leader. She is ready to build a team of problem-solvers who will always put the needs of the people of Oregon first,” Kotek said. The governor-elect also named her transition team: Annaliese Dolph, a lawyer and former Kotek aide, is the health care lead; Abby Tibbs, a senior Oregon Health & Science University official, is helping prepare Kotek’s first budget; outgoing state Rep. Karin Power (D-Milwaukie) is the poli cy lead; and Taylor Smiley Wolfe, who previously worked for Kotek and Home Forward, is the housing lead. “In the weeks leading up to inaugu ration,” Kotek said, “our focus will be on getting ready to address issues of shared concern across our state: homelessness, mental health and ad diction, and successful schools.”

CITY CHARTER COMMISSION PROPOSES

SECOND

SLATE OF AMENDMENTS:

Fresh off persuading voters to make sweeping changes to Portland’s form of government, the city Charter Commission sent six proposed amendments Dec. 3 to the Portland City Council. They include aspirational goals on public engagement and environmental protection, as well as specifics to expand voting rights; lift the 5% cap on the transient lodging tax; create a transparency ad vocate to help Portlanders obtain public records and access their government; and introduce “participatory budgeting” to allow Portlanders to establish policy goals and allocate 1% of the city’s general fund budget (about $7.3 million). The City Council will consider the proposed amend ments Jan. 19. Those it approves will appear on the November 2024 ballot—just as voters elect a new, 12-member City Council.

KOTEK

Deep Freeze

BY LUCAS MANFIELD lmanfield@wweek.com

Last week, Mayor Ted Wheeler made a Salt & Straw run.

In November, an RV caught fire along Southeast 3rd Avenue in the Central Eastside, knocking out power to the artisanal ice cream maker’s production facility, leading the owner to publicly threaten to leave Portland. Pink Martini frontman-turned-civic advocate Thomas Lauderdale followed up with an email blaming rampant drug use and mental illness on Portland’s streets.

Wheeler did damage control. At an industry-sponsored “lis tening session” Nov. 29, the mayor borrowed a solution pro posed that morning by New York City Mayor Eric Adams: If the severely mentally ill don’t want treatment, lock them up and force it on them.

If only it were that easy. Civil rights issues aside, even if po lice began sweeping up people along with their tents, there is nowhere to send them for mental health treatment.

The state hospital is full. Thanks to a federal order—and long-standing practice—it accepts few if any civilly committed patients.

Instead, the civilly committed are sent to local hospitals. Those hospitals cannot treat them, they say, and are suing the state because of it.

THE DREAM:

Civil commitment laws allow authorities to force someone with severe mental illness into treatment. But the circumstances must be extraordinary: The person must be a danger to themself or others, or be unable to care for their “basic personal needs.”

Wheeler, joined by state Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland), pro posed loosening those restrictions, according to a Portland Business Journal reporter who attended.

“I would support a hard look at the legislative level of our involuntary commitment laws,” Wheeler said.

“I think there might be appetite among my colleagues, Dem ocrat or Republican, to lower the threshold,” Nosse said.

Legislators have been mulling this idea for years, although recent proposals have failed. Regardless, says Amanda Marshall, an Oregon City lawyer who specializes in civil commitment law, it doesn’t address the root of the problem.

“ We don’t have the services,” she says. “We have folks on the street that would be willing to get help, but they can’t get it.”

In response to questions from WW, Nosse said his quoted remarks had been “significantly shortened” and that he would not, in fact, support such legislative changes until “we have stood up more beds” at the Oregon State Hospital and at other community mental health providers. A Wheeler spokesman told WW the mayor was concerned about the state’s “severe lack of mental health services” but believes “nothing should be off the table in identifying solutions.”

THE REALITY:

To understand the connections between Oregon’s broken mental

health care system and the conditions on Portland’s streets, don’t go to a ballroom “listening session” or even to 3rd Avenue.

Go to U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman’s courtroom down town, where the question of who is responsible for Oregon’s ongoing failure to provide basic mental health care services is now being litigated.

Last month, Mosman consolidated two major lawsuits accus ing the state of failing to provide timely treatment for severely mentally ill patients.

The first case is more than two decades old and still unre solved—it was filed by disability rights advocates on behalf of people suffering from mental illness stranded in jail. The second, more recent lawsuit was filed by the state’s major hospital sys tems, which say the solution to the problem has come at their expense.

The legal issues may be complicated, but the problem is simple: The state hospital is full. Instead of expanding it, the state has shrunk it, from more than 800 patients a few decades ago to less than 700 now.

To address the crowding, Mosman has ordered the hospital to prioritize the admission of criminal defendants too ill to be

prosecuted (which it was already doing) and begin discharging patients earlier.

The result: Civilly committed patients once filled half the state hospital’s beds. Now they take up only a handful.

With the state hospital not an option, civilly committed people are now sent to local hospitals—who have responded by suing the state, arguing that the burden of caring for these patients is backing up emergency departments and making it harder to treat people voluntarily seeking care.

The state is “abandoning civilly committed individuals in acute care facilities and failing to even attempt to provide them with appropriate treatment during their involuntary detention,” they claim.

To advocates, the focus on how to better compel treatment rather than provide it misses the point.

“ You can do this by force,” says Jason Renaud of the Mental Health Association of Portland, “or you can provide good services and people will come willingly. What we haven’t done—the state, the county, and the [community care organizations]—is the latter. And now the city is mad and saying, ‘We’d like to sweep the streets.’”

Forcibly committing people with mental illness won’t create enough beds for them.

ICE CREAM CASTLES: A customer at Salt & Straw’s now-defunct Wiz Bang Bar.

Riot Acts

City

For years, the Portland Police Bureau has used a contro versial crowd control weapon to disperse protesters. It’s a flash-bang grenade, designed to explode safely, and loudly, over people’s heads. Instead, the rounds frequently ex plode on or near protesters—causing debilitating injuries.

Last week, the bureau agreed to settle years of litigation by ceasing its use of the devices and decommissioning its remaining stock.

But other civil suits resulting from the bureau’s use of flash-bangs remain. One suit was brought by Meghan Opbroek, a 38-year-old clinical mental health therapist. She was severely injured by a flash-bang during a June 2020 protest and sued the city for damages later that year.

In that litigation, city attorneys argued the case should be thrown out because, they say, the city can’t be sued once police declare a riot. Their actions are then shielded from civil liability, a city attorney argued, citing a loophole in state law.

The underlying events: In the early hours of June 26, 2020, a crowd massed in front of the Police Bureau’s North Precinct. Opbroek arrived just as police declared the protest an “unlawful assembly.”

It was just after 1 am, and the hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the precinct had spent the night thus far erecting, and then setting fire to, a series of barricades made of cars, dumpsters and wooden pallets. It was, WW reported, an effort to create a police-free “permanent protest zone,” similar to the one protesters had established in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Over the next hour, protesters and police brawled in the street. Protesters attempted to breach the precinct using dumpsters as battering rams. Police responded with nonlethal munitions, including flash-bangs. By 2:15, the precinct was on fire.

A video livestreamed on Twitch captured Opbroek walking close to police in disobedience of their orders to disperse, city attorneys say. She doesn’t deny it. She was filming the scene as she and other protesters chanted “Black lives matter,” “All cops are bastards,” “Fascist pigs,” and other obscenities.

At some point, officers began firing at the crowd. A smoke grenade landed at Opbroek’s feet with a “loud boom,” she says.

When she turned away, police followed up with a flashbang that landed near her and “blew off chunks of her flesh,” according to a complaint filed in federal court. It includes graphic photos of blood streaming down her leg. She was later hospitalized, diagnosed with a concussion, and received treatment for a watermelon-sized impact wound to her chest. She’s still being treated for ongoing vision issues.

The law: In the United States, federal and state govern ments enjoy “sovereign immunity” from lawsuits. It’s a practice that goes back to English common law and is based on the oft-cited legal maxim: “The King can do no wrong.”

But federal and state laws have long limited that immu

nity. The Oregon Tort Claims Act allows Oregonians to sue the state—with certain limitations. One is “any claim arising out of riot.”

The loophole was added in 1969 to protect governments from paying for the damage caused by rioters—not to give police “blanket immunity” for harming protesters simply by declaring a riot, argue Opbroek’s attorneys, Viktoria Lo, Maya Rinta and J. Ashlee Albies.

In a motion to partially dismiss the case, senior deputy city attorney William Manlove cited two cases in which judges have been sympathetic to the city’s argument.

In 1982, a federal judge ruled that an injured inmate couldn’t sue the state for damages after he was shot by a jail guard during a prison riot.

In 2004, a federal court concluded that the city of Port land was not financially liable for Amber Hicks’ injuries after police threw her in a van during a protest outside a President George W. Bush fundraiser.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Ashmanskas noted that the law “insulates public officers and bodies from liability.”

Hicks suffered an eye injury and lost a pair of Birken stocks, according to the 2003 complaint.

But: “No state court has adopted the City’s extreme interpretation of this law,” Opbroek’s attorneys conclude. In fact, they argue, granting police immunity was never the law’s intention—an issue left unaddressed by judges in the two earlier cases.

In their brief, the attorneys note that one of the original drafters of the law wrote, “It does not bar claims for torts committed by public employees during the course of civil disturbances.”

In 2020, state lawmakers included language closing the Tort Claims Act riot loophole in legislation limiting police use of tear gas. But by the time the bill reached the desk of Gov. Kate Brown, the language had disappeared.

What now: Obroek is seeking an unspecified amount in damages from the city. But the lawsuit is about more than money, she says.

Her attorneys are seeking to depose members of the city’s since-disbanded riot squad and their supervisors.

“I want to expose the misconduct of the city and the PPB and make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Opbroek tells WW LUCAS MANFIELD.

THE WHEEL STOPPED SPINNING

Address: 15 SE 28th Ave.

Year built: 1908

Square footage: 11,173 (includes other storefronts)

Market value: $4.1 million

Owner: Bill Craine

How long it’s been unused: Nearly 3 years Why it’s empty: Pandemic hangover, old age

In March 2020, when Oregon abruptly shut down for the pandem ic, Holman’s, a Buckman neighborhood fixture for 80 years, put a handwritten sign in the window.

“Booze is all gone,” the sign said. “Reopen when Kate says so. Godspeed.”

But nearly three years later, and long after Gov. Kate Brown greenlighted bars and restaurants to reopen, Holman’s remains shuttered. A plate-glass window reveals a barely started renovation project, watchdogged by a life-sized replica St. Bernard, whose glum expression matches the sadness of regulars who counted on Holman’s’ modest atmosphere, welcoming patio, pioneering bloody mary bar, and perilously large selection of whiskeys.

Before it closed, Holman’s offered late-night diners a chance to spin a wheel—if the red arrow pointed to the right spot, dinner was free. More than 17,000 customers won.

Bill Craine, who ran Holman’s with his sister Judy, believes there’s still a demand for generous pours and basic foods amid 28th Avenue’s vibrant restaurant scene.

“I own the body shop around the corner, and in 1977, I bought Holman’s because I needed a place to eat,” Craine says. He is confi dent there’s still a market for Holman’s food. “Too many of the new restaurants don’t understand that people still like grease,” he says.

Craine, 80, also owns adjacent property to the north, which houses a thrift shop and a Fifty Licks ice cream shop. A lot of people, in cluding prospective buyers, have asked about his plans. He hopes to finalize them in the next three or four months.

“At my age, I’ve kind of enjoyed not going to work,” he says. That feeling and a tight labor market have slowed the bar’s rebirth. “I’ll either reopen or sell the place,” Craine says. “But either way, Holman’s won’t die.” NIGEL JAQUISS.

Every week, WW examines one mysteriously vacant prop erty in the city of Portland, explains why it’s empty, and considers what might arrive there next. Send addresses to newstips@wweek.com.

QUIET RIOT: A Portland police officer near the North Precinct during the 2020 protests.

Beloved dive bar Holman’s remains in pandemic purgatory.

attorneys propose a novel way to absolve Portland of financial responsibility for police brutality.

MISSING YOU: The dining room at Holman’s.

The Big Muddy

Plans for an oft-delayed drinking water pipeline under the Willamette have quietly changed.

BY NIGEL JAQUISS njaquiss@wweek.com

The Portland Water Bureau has worked for 12 years to add a new pipeline to carry drinking water to the westside when the inevitable Cascadia earthquake disables the ancient water lines that currently supply that side of the city. The budget has ballooned. Bureau officials won’t say what it is, and a project that was supposed to be finished in 2022 will instead return to the Portland City Council in 2023 with a new price tag and a new plan.

At that time, the bureau will also tell councilors a key piece of information that hasn’t previously been reported: that the plan the City Council originally ap proved, to place a new pipeline deep in earthquake-im pervious rock, won’t work.

Instead, the bureau wants to place it in soil, which engineers have said could liquefy in an earthquake and breach the existing pipelines.

“That’s a huge change,” says Ken Doctor, a retired researcher and professor who has immersed himself in Water Bureau documents.

Bureau officials say the need for the Willamette River Crossing Project, or WRX—to ensure the westside’s water supply in the event of a cataclysmic earthquake— is more urgent than ever.

The city ’s two sources of drinking water—the Bull Run Watershed near Mount Hood and Columbia River wells near Portland International Airport—are both located east of the Willamette River. If a Cascadia subduction zone megaquake were to strike tomorrow, Water Bureau officials fear the city’s water could be unavailable to westsiders.

But laying down a seismically resilient pipeline un der the Willamette that could survive a giant quake has proven far more difficult than expected.

“This has been two steps forward and one step back

WALL OF WATER: The Willamette River separates westsiders from their water supply.

for a little while,” says Jodie Inman, the bureau’s chief engineer.

The Water Bureau first identified the issue of west side supply in 2000, began planning in 2010, started the contracting process in 2015, and signed a deal for a new pipeline in 2018, the last time the City Council had a full rundown on the WRX.

Inman and her colleagues hoped to present their new approach to the council this month, but they are still resolving technology and budget changes. “We don’t have a final cost yet,” she says.

In the meantime, residents in the South Waterfront neighborhood—who would benefit from the new pipe line but also be directly affected by clangorous drill ing and construction work—have grown increasingly skeptical of the Water Bureau.

One of those residents, Doctor, has a Ph.D. in nucle ar engineering and is used to studying complicated challenges. Doctor says that like a tunneling machine that’s veered off course, the Water Bureau keeps going even when a key assumption has changed.

“Last year, they completely changed the entire prem ise of the project,” he says. “They are now working on a plan the City Council has never seen.”

As the Water Bureau begins construction on its $820 million filtration plant in east county, the WRX project is poised to become its next big-ticket controversy before the Portland City Council.

Here’s the backstory:

How did this project start?

Back in 2000, Water Bureau engineers identified a vul nerability: More than 360,000 westside city residents, three major hospitals, and all downtown businesses get their water from five pipelines that cross under the Willamette riverbed, and one attached to the Ross Island Bridge.

The Ross Island Bridge is rickety and the pipelines are ancient (one, at Southeast Clay Street, dates to 1910). The five crossings under the Willamette rest in alluvial soil—basically, mud—on the river bottom. Scientists say that soil could liquefy in a big quake, causing the pipelines to fail.

That means no water for drinking, bathing, cooking, or putting out fires. “There is almost always a fire of some magnitude after an earthquake,” explains Water Bureau supervising engineer and WRX project man ager Tim Collins in a video describing the project.

In 2010, bureau engineers began planning to add a new “seismically hardened” crossing.

What did the City Council approve?

In 2015, the Water Bureau told the council there was a high probability the sub-Willamette pipelines “would fail simultaneously” in a big earthquake, depriving westsiders of a reliable water supply for six months. Documents show the Water Bureau estimated the economic impact of that disruption to be “$1.5 to $2.5 billion.”

Sobered by that prospect, the council agreed to sus pend competitive bidding requirements and greenlight a project with a $57 million price tag. The plan: tunnel through rock beneath the alluvial soil and place a new pipeline in that tunnel.

“The crossing will be located under the liquefiable soils that present the greatest seismic hazard,” the bureau told the council.

Former City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who then oversaw the Water Bureau, says she was always impressed with the bureau’s technical proficiency, but her memory of WRX is hazy. “I do remember that before I left office [in 2021], there was a glitch with the project’s location,” Fritz says.

What changed?

In 2018, the bureau came back to the council with a new budget: $90 million. The plan, according to a council presentation from that year, had been refined.

The new pipeline would pass through a layer of rock called the “Troutdale Formation” about 140 to 150 feet deep. The price had increased, but the bureau told the council its preferred contractor, J.W. Fowler Co., was highly experienced and would complete the job by January 2022. The council approved the project. But when Fowler started test drilling in 2020, it re ported to the Water Bureau that it found the Troutdale Formation rock impenetrable.

“ We had established what we believed was a viable technology,” Inman says, “but what we learned was, that technology would no longer work.”

The new plan? A much shallower placement for the pipeline, just 80 to 90 feet deep. That would place it toward the bottom of the alluvial soil that had so worried engineers years earlier.

Any problems with that?

After obtaining a copy of Fowler’s memo on the impos sibility of the original plan, Doctor, the South Water front neighbor, cried foul. “They totally reversed the position that they’d held for the past six years,” he says.

Doctor couldn’t find any substantiation that putting a new pipeline in soil rather than rock would make a meaningful difference from the current pipelines— and he’s suspicious of computer modeling that says it would.

Inman acknowledges the drilling failure was a big blow. “We hoped we would go through a rock-type layer,” she says. But the bureau is confident. “Our new alignment is in shallower soils, but not the most liq uefiable soils,” Inman adds.

Her colleague Collins says the biggest risk for pipe lines fracturing is along riverbanks, not on the bottom, so raising the depth from 140 to 150 feet up to 80 to 90 feet doesn’t invalidate the new approach.

“ We will be in rock on the edges,” Collins says. “And in the middle of the river, we will transition into a more dense, sandy material.”

Collins insists the city will build a pipeline that is seismically safe. “What we are doing is not cutting edge,” he adds, citing similar water pipelines in Victoria and Vancouver, B.C.

Are there alternatives to WRX?

Doctor and his allies say the Water Bureau should consider other ways to accomplish its goal, including either building westside water treatment capacity or contracting for processed Willamette River water from a large treatment plant in Wilsonville.

Inman says the Wilsonville plant lacks capacity to supply Portland, and putting a new pipeline above ground on the Tilikum Crossing would be too expen sive. “We have continually reevaluated other options,” Inman says, adding that building a westside filtration plant would also be “prohibitively expensive.”

What happens next?

The Water Bureau hopes to update the City Council on its plan in the next three or four months. Doctor says he’ll be ready: “I think there is serious doubt that the pipeline as envisioned would meet the goal of provid ing water to the westside in the event of the quake.”

“What we learned was, that technology would no longer work.”

Mushroom Pop-Up

Who’s behind a West Burnside storefront selling psychedelic mushrooms at retail?

BY ANTHONY EFFINGER and LUCAS MANFIELD 503-243-2122

The biggest attraction in Portland this holi day season has been a shop selling psychedelic mushrooms, at retail, on West Burnside Street at 16th Avenue, a block from the Crystal Ball room.

Shroom House is hard to miss. It has seven signs, including a billboard across the street, all showing a cartoon cottage, its roof formed by a red and white mushroom cap. At most hours, it also has a line stretching a block east along the sidewalk.

Since Dec. 1, when a WW reporter strolled in, bought 7 grams of “Penis Envy” fungi, and wrote about it, Shroom House has been mobbed. The wait on Saturday stretched to five hours, as customers queued along Burnside seeking enlightenment, an appointment with God, or just a good time (see page 27).

Shroom House announced its Oct. 24 grand opening on Twitter. In a Christmas miracle, it’s been undisturbed since, despite violating federal drug laws and a list of voter-approved Oregon statutes on psilocybin.

Mike Arnold, an Oregon criminal defense lawyer who has his own—legal—psilocybin business that operates in Jamaica, says the owners of Shroom House are risking many months in prison, depending how much prod uct they have on hand and whether prosecutors charge by the transaction.

“This is some serious exposure,” Arnold says. “If I were their lawyer, I’d be telling them to run

for the hills and count their blessings.”

Buyers face prosecution, too, depending on their purchases. Shroom House sells portions ranging from 3.5 grams to 14 grams. Walk out of the Shroom House with anything more than 12 grams, and you’re committing a misdemeanor.

And that might not even be the worst conse quence of a visit to Shroom House. The business has been accumulating a detailed database of customer information, including two forms of ID, one of which can be a credit card. Employees have been unable, or perhaps unwilling, to put WW in contact with the owner.

State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner (D-Portland), who campaigned for the legalization of psilo cybin in therapeutic settings, is aghast at the brashness of the retail store.

“This is like someone opening a cocaine store on Burnside,” Steiner tells WW

As of press deadline at 4 pm Dec. 6, the shop was still slinging Penis Envy the way Voodoo Doughnut sells penis-shaped pastries.

Oregon has some of the most permissive psi locybin laws in the nation—though they don’t permit the owner of the Shroom House to sell psychoactive fungi like ice cream.

Measure 109, passed in 2020, made it legal for adults to use mushrooms on the premises of a certified “service center” under the supervision of a facilitator who guides users through their trips. Both the service centers and the facilita tors must be approved by the state—and, so far, none has been, according to the Oregon Health Authority, which administers the psilocybin licensing program.

Neither Measure 109, nor Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of up to 12 grams of mushrooms, made retail sales legal in any way, shape or form.

Ownership of Shroom House is murky. Clerks, some with Buddha-like smiles, wouldn’t say who controls it. Former employees were paid by a company called “Alive N Well Hos pitality Group LLC,” according to KOIN-TV. A limited liability company by that name was created in April by Steven Tony Tachie, state records show.

Tachie, who has lived in Atlanta and Canada, released several hip-hop songs under the name Young Sleezy in the early 2010s, according to a website run by one of his producers, DJ Hunt.

Property records show the space is owned by Sunjoy Realty LLC, which, in turn, is managed by Carla Byrum, who, along with her husband, Mark, owns a number of restaurants around town, including Brix Tavern, Bartini, Urban Fondue and the Taylor Street Tavern. “Unfor tunately, I am unable to comment at this time,” Mark Byrum says, “due to legality reasons.”

Tachie didn’t respond to messages to his various social media accounts, and staff at the Shroom House wouldn’t talk strategy. That means industry players like Arnold are left to guess at the owner’s endgame. He may be look ing to make a quick buck, Arnold says, betting that Oregon’s softer stance on psilocybin will give him breathing room, the way cannabis laws did for pot sellers before recreational sales became legal in 2014.

Shroom House has a sister store in Vancou ver, B.C. (same cutesy logo). The woman an swering the phone there said the shops shared the same owner but wouldn’t say who it was. Shroom House is one of at least four shops in Vancouver pursuing a gambit of “don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness,” according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

So far, that’s working here, too. Law enforce ment agencies have pointed fingers at each oth er. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration deferred to “local law enforcement partners,” which it said were investigating. Mayor Ted Wheeler had no comment and deferred to the Portland Police Bureau, which last week referred reporters to the Oregon Health Au thority. OHA, in turn, said it was “a matter for local or state law enforcement.”

The only elected official who has spoken out loudly against Shroom House so far is Sen. Steiner. A doctor by trade, she was among the biggest supporters of Measure 109 because she believes psilocybin has great promise to treat things like severe depression, alcohol abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Research at Harvard and Johns Hopkins

universities supports all of that, and it may be part of the reason that Shroom House is pulling Portland customers faster than a Sleater-Kin ney reunion tour.

Hobbit-cute though it may seem, the Shroom House is a clear and present danger to Measure 109. Part of the law it created gives counties and towns the right to opt out and prohibit psilocybin centers from operating. Twenty-five counties did in last month’s election.

“A lot of places opted out because they were terrified about things like this,” Steiner says.

Letting a retail store sell a Schedule I pro hibited drug—even one with great therapeutic promise—sends a bad message, Steiner says.

“It’s ludicrous,” she says. “This is entirely a law enforcement issue.”

Even the San Francisco Bay Area, equally blighted by homeless camps, graffiti, trash, and smash-and-grab thieves, has taken action against illegal psilocybin sales.

In 2020, the Oakland Police Department raided the Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants and seized $200,000 in cash, cannabis and shrooms, according to Vice News. The Oak land City Council had voted to decriminalize hallucinogenic fungi the year before.

Earlier this month, San Francisco police raided a shop that appeared to be openly sell ing shrooms in Haight Ashbury, the OG acid haven. “A large quantity of suspected narcotics was seized,” a spokesman for the department said. The owner was charged with violating the California Health & Safety Code.

So far, it’s crickets from the cops in Port land, mostly. Last year, police booked Nicholas Manfredi for possessing psilocybin. He was charged with a misdemeanor and sentenced to 18 months’ probation. Manfredi is the only person to face psilocybin-related charges since Measure 110 went into effect, a spokeswoman for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office tells WW

Like Fight Club, the Shroom House has its own code of conduct. In addition to personal information, which it keeps on file to make future purchases easier (clerks say), a customer must apply to become a member of the “Shroom House Society.”

“The Society Board will consider your ap plication at which time it will be rejected or accepted,” the application says. Though it sounds like Skull and Bones at Yale, or a really exclusive Elks Club, a reporter for WW had his application accepted within minutes. And none of these steps makes selling psychedelic mushrooms at retail any more legal.

Many Shroom House customers don’t see a downside, even after turning over personal information and a credit card to an illegal en terprise.

“It’s just balls out,” said Matt Kidder, 42, who braved Sunday’s snowstorm to shop after a cou ple of beers watching football. “I think the guy who did this is a genius. The city of Portland has plenty of other things to worry about than me microdosing some mushrooms.”

HOLIDAY RUSH: The line outside Shroom House stretches for a block, and waits can top five hours.

CHRIS NESSETH

“If I were their lawyer, I’d be telling them to run for the hills and count their blessings.”

We are honored to be included among the community leaders in this issue. This year we sponsored 20 exhibitions from our collection around the country at no cost to the museums. While we are proud of all our exhibitions, the Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program was one of our proudest achievements. All of us in our community and communities across the country struggled to deal with the murder of George Floyd and issues of racism which are all too prevalent in our country. So, we turn to artists who are always chroniclers of our time to help us foster dialogue and understanding of these societal issues.

In the wake of social unrest and national reflection that followed the murder of George Floyd, Jordan Schnitzer and the Jordan Schnitzer Museums of Art at Portland State University, University of Oregon, and Washington State University established a $150,000 Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program. From a group of over 700 applicants, 60 artists were selected by campus groups, and each awarded $2,500 grants to use their voices, experiences, and artistic expression to reflect on social justice efforts. The grant program has acted as a catalyst for these artist’s careers, many of whom had never shown or been compensated for their art before.

JORDAN SCHNITZER

MUSEUM

OF ART UNIVERSITY OF OREGON RECIPIENTS

Tumelo Moloi Ana-Maurine Lara Gabriel Barrera Gabby Beauvais Malik Lovett Mya Lansing Anthony Lewis

JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY RECIPIENTS

Aisha Harrison

Lisa Myers Bulmash Hasaan Kirkland

Rene Westbrook

Troy Riley Miles

Jasmine Iona Brown Robert J Lloyd

JORDAN SCHNITZER

Edmund Holmes

Kathleen Caprario and Gregory S. Black John Adair Josh Sands Michael Perkins Elliot Marco Jasmine Jackson

Grace June Zinda K Foster Whitney Evans Jennifer Kuhns

Cynthia Camlin Myron Curry Jackie Schaubel

Aaron Thompson Marina Hajek Artemas Ori Naomi Meyer MO WO Stormie Loury Mika Aono

Derek E Johnson Maya Milton Bonnie Hopper

Tracy Poindexter-Canton

Damon Brown Felicia Follum

Aiyana McClinton

Steven Christian

OF ART PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY RECIPIENTS

MUSEUM

Latoya Lovely Sade DuBoise

Sharita Towne

Christine Miller

Baba Wague Diakite

Kyra Watkins

AnAkA Morris

Leila Haile

J’reyesha Brannon

Julia Bond

Austin Gardner

Elijah Hasan

Amirah Chatman

Willie Little

Annie Schutz

Annabelle Araya Jessica Mehta

above: Amirah Chatman, Heaven’s Probably in Phoenix (detail), 2020, pastel on chipboard, Diptych, 44 x 56 inches

JordanSchnitzer.org jschnitzerff

25 PEOPLE SHAPING THE ARTS IN PORTLAND.

does a work of art begin? With the stroke of a pen or a paintbrush? With a spotlight shining on a stage? With a cry of “Action!” on a film or TV set?

Or a signature scrawled on a check?

That question of origin was one we considered as we prepared our list of 25 People Shaping the Arts in Port land. Influence is an elusive concept. Patronization can be quantified, but inspiration is harder to measure.

Yet here we are with a list, assembled after fierce debate among WW’s Arts

& Culture writers and a survey of both artists and patrons of the arts. In it, you will find musicians, writers, philan thropists, executive leaders and some multihyphenates who defy categori zation. (A few we wanted to include declined to be interviewed.)

This is not a list of the city’s best artists, or its best known. Instead, it’s a list of the people whose personal gravity draws satellites in to their orbit.

In other words, these are Portland’s tastemakers—either because of the work they create or the talent they bolster.

The list is divided into two sections: Old Guard and New Guard. In the

former category, we consider those whose influence has long shaped the city. In the latter, we identify people who have emerged as formidable voices in the past decade: stars of the present and future.

As Portland continues to rebuild in the wake of the pandemic, recognizing these Oregonians is more important than ever. It is because of the people on this list that the city’s arts scene is resurgent, rather than on life sup port. —Bennett Campbell Ferguson, Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

ISAAC BROCK

Age: 47

Occupation: Lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for Modest Mouse

Why He Matters: For 30 years, Isaac Brock has led one of the most influential bands in the Pacific North west. Modest Mouse’s first three albums are arguably among the greatest indie-rock albums—and their fourth, 2004’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, featured the hit “Float On” and went certified platinum with sales of more than 1.5 million copies. Brock has a turbulent history with Portland. In 2015, he expressed ambivalence about the city he calls home (“Portland is weird, but it’s kind of a crappy weird”); in 2019, Poison’s Rainbow, the bar he co-owned in the Kerns neighborhood, abruptly closed. Yet Portland has remained a constant in his life, even as his career expanded and he became a father of three.

Last month, Brock and his band sold out two con secutive nights at the Crystal Ballroom, proving that they remain a guiding light for indie rock in Portland. There’s a certain poetry to Brock’s stratospheric jour

ney: Raised in a fundamentalist church in Montana, he ultimately became a deity to his fans.

Biggest Influence: “Paul Watson and Sea Shep herd are one of my favorite environmental/political action groups. They have actually motivated me in music. They have been up against immeasurable odds on a subject that many of us were relatively unaware of until recently, which is the horrifying abuse of ocean life, since 1977.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “My guilty pleasure is Raffi. I have two little kids, and they have two speeds: anything that sounds like Taylor Swift and the Kidz Bop version of ‘Who Let the Dogs Out.’ Sometimes I’m just like, ‘Could we please just listen to Raffi?’”

Best Quote About Him: “He approaches creating songs from a very different angle than pretty much anybody, and no matter what kind of bizarre experi ment he tries and fails [at], it’s still more interesting than a lot of what people do.” —Keegan Bradford of

DAVID ALLEN CRESS

Age: 59

Occupation: Producer

Why He Matters: David Allen Cress had a major part to play in the creation of Portland’s most iconic television show, Portlandia, starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. Pro ducing the 77-episode series, Cress brought global attention to Portland’s quirkiness, but also served as a conduit for the com munity’s arts and film professionals, offering them work in their hometown. Also, he started the successful Portland independent film production studio Food Chain Films and produces shows like Documentary Now!, Chad and Shrill

Biggest Influence: “I don’t know if I have an influence. I think that the stuff that got me going and the peers that helped start Food Chain, we were all in love with nonfiction filmmaking… and the new trends in documentary filmmaking. It was a little less pretending to be objective and more willingness to take a side or have an opinion.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “I worked on a short film with a really brilliant director who lives in Portland, Chel White, who made a film called Dirt and I helped as the assistant director. He called me a few months later and said, ‘Hey, David, Dirt got into Sundance.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “The Portland music scene.” Best Quote About Him: “While most influencers for Port land arts have been focused on a singular scope, David Cress’ staunch support of local arts transcends the now to cut at where Portland has been and is going. Cress cares deeply about the brand and reputation of our city, always fighting for our image while laying the foundation for future artists.” —Schuyler Telleen, production designer ALEX BARR.

RONNI LACROUTE

Age: 77

Occupation: Patron of the arts

Why She Matters: If you attend plays, art exhibits, film festivals or music festivals in the Portland area, you know about Ronni Lacroute. Despite a desire to avoid the spotlight, she’s be come a name that audiences hear about but don’t often see. When artistic directors inevitably begin shows by declaring, “We’d like to thank our sponsor, Ronni Lacroute,” she doesn’t come onstage, preferring to let her financial support speak for itself. A former East Coaster, Lacroute became the youngest French language professor at Suffolk University in the 1970s. She later moved to Silicon Valley and got a job in computing, but still found time to grow 50 fruit trees.

COLIN MELOY

Age: 48

Occupation: Lead singer, songwriter and multi-in strumentalist of the Decemberists; author of children’s books

Why He Matters: The Decemberists are one of the most striking rock bands of the new millennium, with dense, literary lyrics that reflect both frontman Colin Meloy’s interest in history and folklore and his sideline in writing children’s books such as Wildwood, which made the New York Times bestseller list in 2011. (It’s being adapted as an animated feature by Laika, with a voice cast that includes Carey Mulligan, Awkwafina and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali). Arcane but accessible, head-spinningly proggy yet packed with hooks, the music Meloy and the Decem berists have made across nine albums and two decades epitomizes Portland’s eccentric spirit.

Biggest Influence: “My wife, Carson, who is an

illustrator and artist, has been a pretty powerful in fluence on my work since we’ve known each other.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “I could point to some Grammy nominations or having a No. 1 record, but I think just making a living as an artist, as a musician and a writer, which were my two child hood dreams.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Video games. They pull me away from my work. I can point to the Dark Souls games as being the things that potentially de railed my career in the last 15 years.”

Best Quote About Him: “The Decemberists came around in at a time when a lot of indie rock was about attitude and cool and not giving a fuck, and the Decemberists really gave a fuck.” —Larry Fitzmaurice, music critic and author of the Last Donut of the Night newsletter DANIEL BROMFIELD.

Since moving to Oregon, she has co-owned and sold the Wil laKenzie Estate, a winery in Yamhill, Ore. Now, she has devoted her life to philanthropy, investing in the city’s arts community through her patronage and guidance. “I’m interested in more than just beautifully made artistic performances,” she says. “I want to see that it has an impact on the community that brings people together [and] helps people develop empathy for folks who aren’t like ourselves.”

Biggest Influence: “David Shifrin at Chamber Music NW and Allen Nause at Artists Repertory Theatre. [They] really got me excited about the potential of arts organizations to make the community a better place.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Even the smallest things I’ve done are sometimes as powerful as the biggest things. Now, it’s just helping companies survive the pandemic. There’s certain companies that told me they wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t helped them.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Having time to read for hours in the evening.”

Best Quote About Her: The words of Lacroute herself best sum up her impact: “For my 75th birthday, the arts community threw me an enormous bash at Portland Playhouse, and each representative did something to entertain me,” she says. “Some people did a roast, some read a poem. There was somebody who did a rap. I don’t have a favorite, but I have this memory of the whole arts community inventing stuff for me.”

ROBERT HAM.

“MAKING A LIVING AS AN ARTIST, AS A MUSICIAN AND A WRITER WERE MY TWO CHILDHOOD DREAMS.”

ANDREW PROCTOR

Age: 49

Occupation: Executive director of Literary Arts

Why He Matters: Literary Arts is the central nervous system of Portland’s ambitious and impressive literary scene. And its core is Proctor, an affable Canadian whose staggering résumé includes working as an editor at HarperCollins and studying under Andrew Motion, the 1999-2009 English poet laureate.

Literary Arts holds one of the most impressive author series in America, supports 1,500 local writers, and runs the massive Portland Book Festival (this year’s edition featured 100 authors and was attended by over 5,000 people). The organization also produces Verselandia, the citywide poetry slam championship in which 20 high school students compete at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall each year.

For Proctor, the aim of Literary Arts is at once sweeping and simple: “We’re helping fuel the creative life of our city, and in the process, we’re creating one of the most vibrant and distinguished centers for readers and writers in the country.”

Biggest Influence: “My brother Gordon Proctor. He died this year at the age of 52 of COVID-related illnesses. He was a painter and a musician, and growing up, he was the coolest person I knew. He influenced both who I am and who I am not. His struggles with depression and alcoholism taught me a lot about humility and empathy.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: During the pan demic, Proctor persuaded his board to donate $150,000 from its endowment to create an emergency fund for local writers, with an emphasis on BIPOC writers “who we knew were being disproportionately impacted.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “I used to be a skateboarder as a teenager. For a while, it was all I did. These days, I like to watch YouTube skate videos, especially those old Powell Peralta ones from the ’80s and ’90s.”

Best Quote About Him: “Andrew is passionate, and he believes in all of us and our ability to connect our community with storytelling.” —Olivia Jones Hall, director of youth programs at Literary Arts ASHLEY DEMELLO.

BRIAN J. FERRISO

Age: 56

Occupation: Portland Art Museum director and chief curator Why He Matters: If the Portland Art Museum is the biggest ship in the sea that is the city’s visual arts community, Ferriso is its captain—as firm and dependable as the no-nonsense rectan gular glasses that adorn his face.

Leading the museum since 2006, Ferriso managed the dual challenge of raising bucks and the profile and quality of an insti tution that had its rear end walloped during the pandemic. He eliminated debt and grew PAM’s endowment by 50%—to $68 million—while stretching to diversify the museum’s exhibitions (current showcases include Dakota Modern, a tribute to the late Oscar Howe, who was one of the nation’s foremost Native American artists).

Sixteen years in, already a long tenure for a museum that suffered a lot of messy turnover a few decades ago, Ferriso says he envisions another decade as director, tackling the massive campus update that is the Rothko Pavilion. This glass entryway project would connect PAM’s two buildings and crystallize its vision as a 21st century art museum.

Biggest Influence: “It comes down to my family: parents, brothers, wife, kids. They’re the ones who’ve shaped me, encour aged me, pushed, prodded, pulled. Always on my mind. That’s not really a great answer because it’s better if I say Abraham Lincoln or something.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: Doubling the number of curators to nine, with four positions now endowed.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Lucky Lab, the brewpub in Northwest. The Super Dog is one of the best IPAs.”

Best Quote About Him: “He’s a most thoughtful person and understands well the balance of what it takes to bring peo ple in the door and reasonably fund turning the lights on.”

Alix Meier Goodman, chair of PAM’s board of trustees SOLEM-PFEIFER.

THOMAS LAUDERDALE

Age: 52

Occupation: Pianist and bandleader of Pink Martini

Why He Matters: Thomas Lauderdale’s “little orchestra” Pink Martini has not just been a central part of Portland culture since 1994. Lauderdale, an electric performer who plays the piano with throw-off-your-jacket bravado, has a global presence, selling more than 2.5 million records and touring to huge crowds worldwide (in 2023, Pink Martini will be seen everywhere from Alaska to Belgium).

In Portland, the band regularly performs at fundraisers, and Lauderdale, though a somewhat controversial presence in civic affairs, is a tireless booster of Portland. He lives in a three-story house downtown and serves on several boards, staying as well connected to Old Portland as any cultural figure in the state.

Biggest Influence: “I learned a lot from a woman named Kathleen Saadat, who lives here in Portland. She was Gov. Neil Goldschmidt’s affirmative action director, and I worked under her in 1991.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: Helping civil rights leader Myrlie Evers-Williams make her Carnegie Hall debut playing the piano and singing at age 79.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Do I have to answer that ques tion?”

Best Quote About Him: “Thomas is an extremely generous person who creates opportunity for people who might not have gotten the chance to be seen in some spaces.” —Jimmie Herrod, Pink Martini singer DANIEL BROMFIELD.

ERIC MAYERS

Occupation: Manager at Red Light Management

Why He Matters: Eric Mayers has one of the most thank less jobs in the music business—managers do mighty work for minimal glory—but he is the important lubrication between mu sicians, promoters and venue operators. The bands he manages include the Decemberists, My Morning Jacket and Nickel Creek. Mayers returned to Portland after a brief stint in the Bay Area to attend Lewis & Clark College, where he met the first band he would manage, Calobo. He would go on to co-found Siren Music Company, releasing five records and selling 125,000 cop ies. His vibe—modest family man with an ego far smaller than his formidable beard—belies the scope of his influence and his powerhouse collection of clients.

Biggest Influence: “I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock and that somehow morphed into an ardent and still long-lasting love for the Grateful Dead.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “My greatest personal achievement would be the birth of my daughter and maintaining my family. And being asked to be in a Willamette Week article about people that are influencing the Portland arts.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Probably desserts. I’m a big carrot cake fan.”

Best Quote About Him: “He’s worn just about every hat and done it all well.” —Travis Labbe, president at True West ALEX BARR.

ELIZABETH LEACH

Age: 65

Occupation: Owner and director of Elizabeth Leach Gallery

Why She Matters: Celebrating its monumen tal 40th anniversary (that’s a few lifetimes in gallery years) and still going strong, Elizabeth Leach Gallery has continued its think-big philosophy of champi oning Portland’s art scene, expanding its reach with nationally known artists.

Artists represented by Leach—the eldest daughter of the former United States ambassador to France under President George W. Bush—have had their work shown at Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, Documenta in Germany, and the Venice Biennale. The

many visionaries she represents include MK Guth, Malia Jensen and Christopher Rauschenberg.

Biggest Influence: “Gallery artists continue to inspire me.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “The publication of the book Forty Years: Elizabeth Leach Gallery.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Enjoying life—hik ing, traveling, the beach, yoga, reading books, time with family.”

Best Quote About Her: “She embodies equal parts of passion, determination and insight—helping others see what’s possible. —Thom Walters, writer LIBBY MOLYNEAUX.

MARTHA RICHARDS

Age: 67

Occupation: Executive director of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation

Why She Matters: When Martha Richards announced she was retiring by the end of the year, it marked the end of a sterling era. As executive director of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, she has directed almost $110 Million to more than 500 arts and education organizations (in addition to offering smart management advice), showing a philanthropic ferocity that belies her mild-mannered personality. The Miller Foundation has already announced a successor, Carrie Hoops (formerly of William Temple House), but we’re including Richards on this list in honor of her 14 years of service to the foundation.

Biggest Influence: One of Richards’ best friends was former Literary Arts executive director Julie Mancini, who died last August. “She was a mentor to lots of people, and I’ve always admired that,” Richards says.

Greatest Personal Achievement: “I raised two won derful children with my husband.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “I really like to read science fiction.”

Best Quote About Her: “Martha was the first E.D. of the Miller Foundation whose expertise required her to translate a vision and eager commitment along with funding for the support of arts and education. While history can speak for itself, the Miller Foundation has become a well-respected organization of accomplishment toward established goals in these areas of influence.” —Karen Whitman, community arts leader BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON.

E.M. LEWIS

Age: 51

Occupation: Playwright

Why She Matters: As an author of 20 full-length plays whose work has been produced around the world, Lewis is truly one of Oregon’s premiere bards. That, however, is not the main reason she’s on the list.

As a storyteller, Lewis is so ambitious that she has almost single handedly raised the bar for epic theater in Portland. Risky bets, like her five-hour Antarctic epic Magellanica, tend to pay off.

When Artists Rep premiered the play in 2018, concerns were raised about the prohibitive costs of a play that demanded four intermissions, including a dinner break. But so many people paid to witness the scope of Lewis’ vision that Artists Rep later invested in an audio version.

Lewis lives on her family’s farm, a wine vineyard located about an hour south of Portland, tending to her garden in her spare time. Her affinity for nature is reflected in her work: both Song of Extinction and Magellancia examine the ongoing global climate crisis. What’s next? In May, her crime drama True Story opens at Artists Rep, where she is a resident playwright.

Biggest Influences: Burn This playwright Lanford Wil son. “He really grappled with who people are and how they are influenced by society and politics. He wrote with a deeply compassionate, but fierce look at human beings.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “I feel so lucky to be a playwright. I love what I do.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Mystery stories

Best Quote About Her: “Ellen’s plays are both intimate and epic, urgently relevant and entertaining. Her characters always feel like fully formed real people, and at the same time, she creates theater that is poetic and magical.” —Dámaso Ro dríguez, vice president of the Arts Consulting Group and former artistic director of Artists Repertory Theatre MAX TAPOGNA.

JORDAN SCHNITZER

Age: 71

Occupation: Director of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, president of Schnitzer Properties Why He Matters: If carrying on the Schnitzer legacy is a burden, it’s one Jordan Schnitzer shoulders with decades of preparation. His real estate company, Schnitzer Properties (started by his father, Harold, in the 1950s), has investments sprawled across the West. His philanthropy is inspired by both his father and his mother, Arlene, who founded the Fountain Gallery of Art in Portland in 1961. And his commitment to art is unbridled to the point of obsessive:

• Schnitzer is a collector. He owns one of the larg est print collections in the country—13,000 works by Jasper Johns, David Hockney and Andy Warhol, among others.

• Schnitzer is an evangelist for art. For a quarter cen tury, he has, at his expense, sent his collections to mu seums across the country, often smaller institutions connected to colleges.

• Schnitzer is one of the region’s great philanthro pists. He has museums of art in his family name at the University of Oregon, Portland State and Washington State University. And few cultural institutions haven’t received support from his $26 million foundation (another Schnitzer foundation, with assets of $65 million, supports cultural institutions and a range of social services).

Biggest Influence: “The biggest influences in my life were my parents Harold and Arlene Schnitzer, then

John

[John Gray was an Oregon entrepreneur who, among other things, developed Sunriver. Howard Vollum was one of the founders of Tektronix]. All three of these couples worked hard to build up businesses but were also devoted philanthropically to help make Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest a better place.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “We are fortunate to always be funding a number of non profits that do so much for so many, but during the last 18 months we are especially proud of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation Black Lives Matter Art ist Grant Exhibition we put on.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Raiding the refrig erator for leftovers at 10:30 at night! I love eating late and I always feel guilty that I did!”

Best Quote About Them: “He truly loves art. He’s totally passionate and emotional. He’s very moved by what artists do.” —Paula Panczenko, director of Tandem Press LIBBY MOLYNEAUX & BENNETT CAMP BELL FERGUSON.

LULANI ARQUETTE

Age: 67

Occupation: President and CEO of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Why She Matters: In 2007, NACF became in corporated as a nonprofit organization, with Walter R. Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) and Elizabeth A. Woody (Navajo, Warm Springs, Wasco, Yakama) serving as founding board members. Today, NACF is helmed by a less familiar but no less conse quential figure: Arquette, who is Native Hawaiian and has been president and CEO for 12 years.

NACF has shown impressive growth under Ar quette’s leadership. She was present when the orga nization hit a major milestone in 2011—creating the first Native arts convening and awarding $510,000 to 28 artists and groups—and she’s leading it toward its next great challenge, transforming the Yale Union Laundry Building into the new Center for Native Arts and Cultures.

Biggest Influence: “[My father] showed me the value of aloha (love) and ohana (family). My mother was a determined and successful business owner and entrepreneur who wasn’t afraid of hard work.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Caregiv ing: We provided care in our home for my mom for a number of years until she passed last summer. She wanted to be at home when she made the transition,

and we were able to satisfy her wishes.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Binge-watching mov ies on Netflix into the wee hours of the morning while eating ice cream bars or chocolate-covered anything.”

Best Quote About Her: “I consider Lulani Ar quette a visionary. She tends the fires of those who create and imagine, which requires insight and the deepest levels of knowledge.” —Joy Harjo LIBBY MOLYNEAUX.

and Betty Gray and Howard and Jean Vollum

LA’ TEVIN ALEXANDER

Age: 31

Occupation: Actor, founder and artistic director of Con frontation Theatre

Why He Matters: While Alexander was raised Baptist, he has explored many other faiths (in the midst of the pandemic, he told WW that he was following the principles of the ancient Egyptian goddess Ma’at). For him, spirituality is less a meal than a buffet—a philosophy reflected in his expansive career. As the founder and artistic director of Confrontation Theatre, one of Portland’s foremost Black theater companies, Alexander has built on the legacy of groundbreaking organizations like PassinArt, mounting relevant and revolutionary productions like The Contract (about a gay minister whose wife sanctions his affair with another man).

Alexander has performed on most of Portland’s premier stages, including Portland Playhouse, Profile Theatre, and Portland Center Stage. He’s also amassed an ever-growing list of film and TV credits, with guest appearances on Portland classics like Grimm and Portlandia, and is starring in the upcoming film Outdoor School

Another highlight of Alexander’s career was appearing in Walking Through Portland as a Panther, a one-man show about Kent Ford, the founder of Portland’s Black Panther party. Right now, you can catch him onstage as Marley (and a host of other characters) in Portland Playhouse’s A Christmas Carol Biggest Influence: “Malcolm X and Bob Marley are my two spiritual uncles. Confrontation Theatre gets its name from Marley’s 1983 album, and I have always loved Malcolm, what he lived and died for.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Becoming a full-time professional actor.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Watching Game of Thrones all the way through—for the eighth time.”

Best Quote About Him: “I’ve known La’ Tevin since he arrived in Portland as an apprentice at Portland Playhouse. As we like to say in the business: La’ Tevin is like ‘butter.’ He’s a very smart actor.” —Kevin Jones, artistic director, CEO and co-founder of the Red Door Project MAX TAPOGNA.

GRAHAM COLE

Age: 29

Occupation: Executive director at White Bird

Why He Matters: At the height of the pandemic, it looked like it might be curtains for White Bird. In March 2020, the organization announced that if it couldn’t make up a $350,000 shortfall, it could shut down permanently.

Instead, Portland’s most prominent contemporary dance company—named after founders Walter Jaffe and Paul King’s pet cockatoo—took flight like never before. Known for luring both national and international choreographers to Portland, White Bird is a not so secret weapon for the city’s dance com munity—one that Graham Cole wields skillfully.

Under Cole’s leadership, White Bird has nurtured local artists while collaborating with visiting titans like Dallas Black Dance Theatre. “Graham has been able to intentionally connect more local arts organizations in Portland with national dance orga nizations through White Bird,” says Kathryn Harden, artistic director of Steps PDX.

Biggest Influence: “My dad. He was a theater producer in Portland when I was a kid, and some of my earliest memories are sleeping in a sleeping bag in one of the back offices in the theater where he and his partner produced work here in Portland. He was incredibly entrepreneurial about it and kind to the artist, and I learned a lot from him about that.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Helping steer White Bird out of the pandemic.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “I really love hitting up the dance clubs in town.”

Best Quote About Him: “Graham is a dedicated and thoughtful friend and leader in the arts community.” —Kathryn

DAMIEN GETER

Age: 52

Occupation: Interim music director at Portland Opera

Why He Matters: Given that it’s been over a year since Geter was named Portland Opera’s interim music director, one could be forgiven for wondering how “interim” he really is. But regardless of how long he holds the position, he’s had an outsized effect on the organization, bringing diversity and urgency to opera, often the whitest and most staid of the performing arts. While reshaping Portland Opera, Geter has contin ued his work as a composer, infusing classical music with various styles from the Black diaspora to create music in service of social justice. “I’m not afraid to talk about or write about subjects that have been tradition ally left out of the concert hall,” he says. That ambition is reflected in An African American Requiem, which he composed for choir and orchestra. It was performed

KATY DAVIDSON

Age: 45

Occupation: Lead singer, songwriter and producer of Dear Nora

Why They Matter: It’s taken a while, but indie rock has finally caught up with Katy Davidson. Though their initial run of late’90s and early-2000s albums with Dear Nora went largely under the radar, their music sounds so much like the dominant sound of indie rock circa 2022 that it’s no surprise to see them cited as an influence by critical darlings like Joyce Manor, Girlpool, Frankie Cosmos, and Big Thief.

Davidson’s songwriting and earthy style of folk rock predicted an era defined by hushed intimacy, confessional songwriting, and plainspoken observation. Their two new albums since revital izing Dear Nora in 2017, including this year’s Human Futures, compete with their best work—and reveal how they, more than any Portland musician, have a gift for meeting the moment.

With 2004’s Mountain Rock, Davidson evoked post-9/11 dread, resulting in an iconic Bush-era album. And Human Futures is of its time in an entirely different way, with its references to Airb nb, Instagram Live and hazy IPAs. If Davidson is influential, it’s because while other artists reflect Davidson, Davidson reflects the world around themself.

Biggest Influence: “Growing up in the Western United States with the extremity of the landscape and the weather.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Finding content ment in my life and maintaining strong relationships with my family and friends.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Reality TV. I’ve watched almost every season of The Amazing Race.”

Best Quote About Them: “Katy Davidson retreats into the wilderness to find inspiration. But the Dear Nora songwriter and frontperson doesn’t seem to seek solace as much as perspective in nature. In their songs, physical distance from civilization becomes a way of discerning the absurdity of day-to-day life.”

—Jay Balfour, Pitchfork DANIEL

BROMFIELD.

with Resonance Ensemble and the Oregon Symphony, and ultimately made its way to Kennedy Center.

Katherine Fitzgibbon, professor of music and di rector of choral activities at Lewis & Clark College and artistic director and president of Resonance En semble, says, “Damien’s vision, simply put, is to use music to change the world. And he’s doing it.”

Biggest Influence: “History.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “I don’t think I’ve reached it yet.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Trashy TV, like Love Is Blind.”

Best Quote About Him: “I keep hearing from people around the U.S. about how Damien’s music changed them. People feel seen, understood and galvanized to take action.” —Katherine Fitzgibbon RAY GILL JR.

MIKKI GILLETTE

Age: 44

Occupation: Fundraiser and playwright

Why She Matters: Gillette is one the city’s foremost trans artists—and she tells trans stories in her own voice. Among her many significant works is The Queers, an ensemble drama focused almost exclusively on trans characters that is perhaps the most entertaining, moving and provocative play to emerge from the Portland theater scene since the start of the pandemic.

As a playwright, Gillette has a rare gift for simultaneously enlightening and entertaining her audience. “I’m hoping my plays can help people understand our community a little better while also giving them a great night of drama,” she says.

“Mikki is a bold playwright,” says director Asae Dean. “If you work with Mikki, you know her as a mild-mannered and gentle person. If you know Mikki’s work, you know a wide range of characters who boil over with rage, are frozen with indecision, beset with anxiety, etc. She writes these richly observed ensemble pieces that refuse to romanticize anyone while holding a real tenderness and care for everyone.”

Biggest Influence: “It’s a combination of my life experience and the authors I loved when I was younger, like Dostoyevsky and Shakespeare.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Becoming myself and falling in love.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Gosh, it feels like all the things that used to be ‘guilty pleasures’ have been reclaimed by culture.”

Best Quote About Her: “Her work centers transgender and nonbinary characters and celebrates their full humanity.”

—Asae Dean RAY GILL JR.

“I’M NOT AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT OR

WRITE ABOUT SUBJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN TRADITIONALLY LEFT OUT OF THE CONCERT HALL.”

ANTHONY HUDSON, AKA CARLA ROSSI

Age: “Carla’s somewhere between 12 and 10,000 years old, but I’m notoriously private about my age.”

Occupation: Multidisciplinary artist, writer and community programmer at the Hollywood Theatre

Why They Matter: Hudson (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Siletz) grew up in Keizer, or, as they dub it, “the meth-y tumor attached to Salem.” It was upon moving to Portland 15 years ago that Hudson’s artistry began to take shape.

Since 2015, Hudson has, as drag clown Carla Rossi, hosted Queer Horror, an LGBTQ+ horror film screening series at the Hollywood Theatre, but their artistry’s influence extends far beyond the theater. From a piece displaying six years of used makeup wipes to an internationally touring play about their experience with their Indigenous and queer identity, Hudson/ Rossi explores creativity and performance with an unyielding pursuit of truth and absurdity.

Biggest Influence: “My dad. He was a tribal social worker and president of the Indian Child Welfare Act…I would watch him give these PowerPoint presentations in white spaces with jokes built into them. I noticed that you can use humor to teach and to break resistance to get people to listen to you. So that was a huge influence for me.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “It would be two things. My show, Looking for Tiger Lily, which was the first time I performed as myself. I’m very proud of and my favorite thing to do is Queer Horror…that show means the world to me.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “I am so obsessed with Real Housewives.”

Best Quote About Them: “Hudson is an advocate for queerness, drag, collaboration, survival, and celebration for the larger Portland and Oregon communities.” —Kate Bredeson, theater historian, director, dramaturg and professor of theater at Reed College ALEX BARR.

MEARA McLAUGHLIN

Age: 60

Occupation: Executive director of MusicPortland

Why She Matters: The music scene in Portland got flattened during the pandemic, but with the help of PPP loans and savvy local operators, it’s crawling out of the hole. And since 2018, it’s had a powerful advocate: McLaughlin, who brings a healthy degree of smarts and advocacy to an industry that has helped define Portland since Heatmiser rocked Satyricon.

McLaughlin might seem an unlikely savior for the music busi ness. She spent the first half of her career in technology (she’s worked for FlightStats Inc. and Air Charter Guide), but she has since ignited the grassroots nonprofit MusicPortland, advocating for clubs and musicians, awarding Portland bands grants, helping protect venues from closure or demolition, and pursuing denied unemployment claims for music professionals.

Biggest Influence: “I grew up in Northwest Portland, and the citizen activism I witnessed here in the 1970s showed me how a small group of individuals can make a huge difference.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Quitting a successful corporate career to join with other people and make a difference for the creative soul of our city.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Quad-shot lattes

Best Quote About Her: “Without Meara’s full-throated defense of our entire music industry over the last five years, it’s very likely that we would have suffered permanent damage to the soul of our city.” —Jamie Dunphy, MusicPortland board member MICHELLE KICHERER.

MARISSA WOLF

Age: 40

Occupation: Artistic director of Portland Center Stage

Why She Matters: In addition to boasting argu ably the best performance space in Portland—the glorious and glamorous Gerding Theater at the Ar mory—Portland Center Stage is the Disney of Port land’s theater scene. If Disney took creative risks, that is.

Since taking leadership in 2018, Wolf (who spent six years cutting her teeth as artistic director of San Francisco’s Crowded Fire Theater) has steered Port land’s flagship theater through the uncertain waters of the pandemic. She has also kept the company on the cutting edge, mounting inventive productions like an all-female Macbeth and a lavish version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights (years before it became an acclaimed film).

Beyond all the success, Wolf is a mother who enjoys swimming, Tiny Desk Concerts, and fighting with her husband over who gets to read the front section of the Sunday New York Times first. At once ambitious and unpretentious, she’s an ideal representative for the city’s biggest blockbuster theater company.

Biggest Influences: “I consider myself primarily a new-play director, but A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, and Angels in America by Tony Kushner cut to my core every time I read them!”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Being a parent and working professionally in the nonprofit arts: It’s infinitely complicated and infinitely beau tiful.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Very trashy reality television. No, I’m not going to name any titles.”

Best Quote About Her: “Marissa will listen to the play. She builds a company of actors who are willing to explore that world and find moments of discovery onstage.” —Christina Anderson, Tony-nominated play wright and screenwriter MAX TAPOGNA.

ALYSSA OGI

Age: 31

Occupation: Poet and editor at Tin House Books

Why She Matters: Tin House has come a long way since publishing the first issue of its magazine in 1999. Today, it publishes fiction, nonfiction and poetry—all while maintaining the literary podcast and radio show Between the Covers

For Portland writers, Tin House is a gleaming king dom, and Ogi ranks high among its royals. In 2022, she personally acquired five of the 25 books that Tin House accepted, and she continues to champion new and diverse voices, both in the books she acquires and in what she’s reading.

“I love to switch between genres and forms as of ten as possible; it’s exciting to see the myriad styles that exist under the umbrella of literature,” she says. Upcoming Tin House releases include Judas Goat by Gabrielle Bates and Trace Evidence by Charif Shanah an, which Ogi believes will both be “essential reading this coming year.”

Biggest Influence: “[My grandmother] ap proached the world with such empathy and fasci nation, and it made me want to consider others as she did; poetry ended up being my medium for that.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: Being se lected for an Oregon Literary Fellowship in 2021.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “I’m part of a fanta sy NBA league, which I love, but it feels like a guilty pleasure, especially given how much time I spend thinking about it!”

Best Quote About Her: “Alyssa is a dynamic, intelligent, thoughtful, and passionate editor. Her keen eye for great work and her deep commitment to championing new voices is invaluable at Tin House.” —Craig Popelars, publisher of Tin House MICHELLE KICHERER.

KIMBERLY KING PARSONS

Age: 43

Occupation: Writer

Why She Matters: Parsons, a William Faulkner fan from Lubbock, Texas, is one of today’s buzziest authors. Her first short story collection, Black Light was nominated for the 2019 National Book Award, but her impact extends beyond her own work.

Parsons is a huge champion of Portland writers. She has taught five times for Literary Arts, and in the past three years has been in conversation with more than a dozen writers at their Powell’s book launches. She’s currently working on her novel The Boiling River which will be published by Knopf in 2024.

Biggest Influence: “The writers I return to again and again are careful, crystalline sentence makers: Amy Hempel, Joy Williams, Garielle Lutz, Denis John son, Christine Schutt.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: Being in conversation with Amy Hempel at her book launch in NYC (Parsons has a line of Hempel’s tattooed on her arm). A close second was her 2019 National Book Award nomination.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Eating garbage snacks from the gas station (her favorites are Funyuns and pizza-flavored anything).

Best Quote About Her: “Kim is not just a bril liant writer and a hilarious person, she’s the best kind of literary citizen—one who makes other writers feel the importance of their work by how closely she en gages with it.” —Cecily Wong, author of Kaleidoscope MICHELLE KICHERER.

ETHAN SPERRY

Age: 51

Occupation: Director of choral activities at Portland State University; artistic director and conductor of the Oregon Rep ertory Singers

Why He Matters: Anyone who thinks choral music isn’t cool hasn’t met Ethan Sperry. From the moment he had the Portland State Chamber Choir amp up a 2010 concert by per forming an a capella version of the THX fanfare—the booming, beloved crescendo made famous by George Lucas’ sound effects company—it was clear that he wouldn’t rest until he made the city care about choirs as much as he does.

DAVID F. WALKER

Age: 54

Occupation: Comics creator and novelist

Why He Matters: Yes, Walker has been around a while. But we’re classifying the former WW film critic as a member of the New Guard because the height of his success (so far) came with his second act: penning over 100 issues for comics titans like Marvel and DC, creating (or co-creating) six original series and writing nonfiction graphic novels about Frederick Douglas and the Black Panther Party—netting three Eisner Awards in the process.

Friend and fellow artist Taki Soma says Walker “seamlessly” navigates both original and publish er-driven work—an industry rarity. More nonfiction, Marvel work and a Regina King-directed movie based

on his comics series Bitter Root are all forthcoming.

Biggest Influence: “Will Eisner, the creator of The Spirit. I met him in person. To have this guy tell me, ‘Give it a shot’…hands down my biggest influence.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “The Black Panther Party. It’s the book I hear about from college students, professors, librarians and parents, [which] lets me know I’m part of something that’s filling a need.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Right now, it’s The Purge [the show and film series]. I need something completely brainless to wind down at night.”

Best Quote About Him: “He is his writing. He’s al most like his own writing experiment.” —Michael Avon Oeming, comics creator CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER.

Ten years in, Sperry’s concerts are consistently exhilarating— he’s brought legendary composers like Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre to Portland—and his music education program is helping to pass on his passion and expertise to the next gen eration. Many of his former students have now had influential careers of their own, including Allison Cottrell, director of choirs at Cleveland High School and executive director of Nexus Vocal Ensemble.

“Ethan truly lives and breathes the belief that choral music has the ability to have a profound effect on those who partici pate in and experience the art form,” Cottrell says. “This belief shines through in each moment he works with a choir or when he speaks to an audience about the music at hand.”

Biggest Influence: “My dad is certainly the biggest one. And then Robert Shaw, who’s probably the greatest choir director our country has ever had.”

Greatest Personal Achievement: “Pulling off this piece called The Path of Miracles by Joby Talbot.”

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Video games. “I did finish Witch er 3, completely by myself.”

Best Quote About Him: “Ethan cares about precision and in-tune chords, of course, but he also cares deeply about the people he is working with and how the music they sing im pacts those who listen just as much.” —Allison Cottrell

BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON.

“HE IS HIS WRITING. HE’S ALMOST LIKE HIS OWN WRITING EXPERIMENT.”

GI F T G U I DE

Curated Barrel-Aged Beer Gift Box, $129.99

Live Resin Cannabis Beverages, $4-$96 Magic Number

Holiday Sipping Sampler, $39.95

Straightaway Cocktails

Gifts for the Curious Drinker

Coffee Soda Concentrate, $16 Tanglewood Beverage Company

Coffee Soda Concentrate starts as an undiluted cold brew made with Ethereal, an Ethiopian coffee, from our friends at Three Keys in Houston, TX. We then add a blend of vanilla, spice, and brown sugar for a phenomenal texture and taste. How to use: Use Coffee Soda Concentrate for iced lattes, espresso martinis, coffee soda floats, ice cream topping, cake glazes, coffee egg creams, and slushies.

tanglewoodbevco.com

Want the perfect gift for the barrel-aged beer lover in your life? Give the gift of pFriem! The gift box includes 12 bottles of award-winning pFriem barrelaged beers, a sample gift from a collaboration partner and information on the pFriem Barrel Aged Beer Club.

pfriembeer.com 707 Portway Ave, STE 101, Hood River

Liven up the holidays with Oregon's most delicious live resin beverages and tasty tinctures. Brewed in Bend and made with all-natural ingredients and single-strain cannabis, we can be found in dispensaries throughout Oregon. Celebrate life, experience the liquid revolution and discover your Magic Number. drinkmagicnumber.com

Behold, the Holiday Sipping Sampler Set. The perfect gift for a cocktailcurious friend with six bottled cocktails in the perfect sipping size: Lintik, Margarita, The Swizzle, The Cosmos, Negroni and Seasonal Favorite Maple Old Fashioned. And the stockings are stuffed with good drinks.

straightawaycocktails.com 901 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Shopping local is a way to show you care; not only for those you are shopping for, but for your community. This year, we hope that while hunting for the perfect gifts, you will choose to put holiday spending back into our hometown . We’ve worked with some of our favorite Portland shops and brands this year to present you a list of gifts that all help to lift spirits in the winter months. We encourage you to support these local retailers this holiday season!

Gifts for the Aspiring Photographer

Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8 Lens, $899.99

Pro Photo Supply

The Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8 Lens, is Nikon’s lightest full-frame f/2.8 zoom lens ever. Get brilliant low-light capabilities, vast depth of field control, and beautiful bokeh all in a compact, rugged design. Normally priced at $979.99, save $200 on this lens until Jan. 1st. prophotosupply.com 1112 19th Ave

Canon EOS R10 Mirrorless Camera, $879.99

Pro Photo Supply

The easy-to-carry Canon EOS R10 Mirrorless Camera packs advanced features into a lightweight, compact design. Add a Canon RF-S/RF lens for a high-performance setup perfect for content creators to take their creativity to the next level. Normally priced at $979.99, save $200 on this camera until Jan. 1st. prophotosupply.com 1112 NW 19th Ave

Nikon Z 30 Mirrorless Camera w/ 16-50mm Lens + Creator Kit, $849.99

Pro Photo Supply

Shopping for the creators in your life? The Nikon Z 30 Mirrorless Camera with 16-50mm Lens and Creator Kit is packed with the features they'll need to quickly and easily start creating the high-quality content they desire to make! prophotosupply.com 1112 19th Ave

Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens, $149.99

Pro Photo Supply

The RF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens is a compact lens that allows you to get a great shot anywhere and anytime. Help the photographer on your gift list be creative in a variety of scenarios from snapshots to portraits, landscapes to low-light situations and more with this lens! prophotosupply.com 1112 NW 19th Ave

Sony Alpha a7C Mirrorless Digital Camera with FE 28-60mm f4-5.6 lens Kit, $1,899.99

Pro Photo Supply

The Sony α7C is for creators who demand fullframe quality and performance in a lightweight compact camera they can take anywhere. This camera offers hybrid abilities for still photo and video creation alike without compromise. Normally priced at $2,099.99, save $200 on this camera kit until Dec. 18th.

prophotosupply.com 1112 NW 19th Ave

Sony Alpha 7R IV Mirrorless Camera, $2,999.99

Pro Photo Supply

The Sony Alpha α7R IV Mirrorless Camera is a powerful camera with incomparable image quality, top-notch processing speed, advanced connectivity, and enhanced reliability - all qualities demanded by professional image makers. Normally priced at $3,499.99, save $500 on this camera until Dec. 18th. prophotosupply.com 1112 NW 19th Ave

Gifts for a Perfect Night In

$44.95

Developed right here in Beaverton, the FinaMill is an award-winning, battery-powered mill that employs interchangeable grinding podstwo come with each mill - that let you switch between grinding pepper and grinding salt in seconds, with just one hand. It's one of Oprah's Favorite Things and a Kaboodle Favorite, too! kitchenkaboodle.com Four Portland-area stores

Hueman Outer Space Vibrating Plug, $69 She Bop

A lovely woodland inspired 15 oz mug has a little hopping fox and majestic deer. Gift set also includes a Tea Chai Tea tea tin of your choice, 100 pk biodegradable paper filters, Lil Tea Tasting Notepad and Tasting Wheel. Gift Set Available Online Only. teachaite.com NW 23rd Ave - Sellwood Caboose - N Mississippi Ave

New Deal Old Tom Gin, $34.95 New Deal Distillery & Bottle Shop

A quirky, and fun electronic musical toy developed in Japan and characterized by its eighth note-shaped body, adorable moving mouth, with an amusingly off-key "voice." Create electronic tones based on the position of your finger on the touch-sensitive fretboard. Perfect for lovers of all things cute, silly and weird. Available in pink and black.

grasshopperstore.com 1816 NE Alberta St.

Experience OUT OF THIS WORLD anal stimulation with this stylish vibrating butt plug! It is made of soft silicone, USB rechargeable, and features 10 different vibration settings. This versatile vibe can boldly go where no one has gone before. Brought to you by the Heuman company sheboptheshop.com 909 N Beech St & 3213 SE Division St

Distilled with over 20 botanicals and barrelrested in French oak, New Deal Old Tom Gin is brimming with depth, texture, and warm, toasted notes. Enjoy on ice with an orange twist, in citrus-forward cocktails, or in a number of Old Tom classics. newdealbottleshop.com 900 SE Salmon St

FinaMill Electric Pepper + Salt Mill,

Kitchen Kaboodle

Nordic Woodland Mug Gift Set, $40 Tea Chai Te

Otamatone, $38 Grasshopper

The perfect gift for Bigfoot fans! Includes famed artist Paul Lanquist’s Bigfoot Country wooden ornament and two admissions for Portland Spirit’s Bigfoot Adventure Cruise aboard the Explorer Jetboat. The cruise runs roundtrip from Portland to Multnomah Falls with narration from Cliff Barackman, star of “Finding Bigfoot.” Valid July - September 2023.

portlandspirit.com

Give the gift of dance with White Bird’s holiday pack for the 2nd annual WE ARE ONE Festival. Both Ronald

Give the gift of ice cream! 4 pints a month of housemade ice cream, 1 seasonal, 2 faves, 1 brand new flavor.

hollertreatspdx.com 7119 SE Milwaukie Ave

truly goofy fun ...now, that’s entertainment! The Boston Globe "a supremely theatrical spectacle.." — New York Times imagotheatre.com 17 SE 8th Ave.

Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters. Get outside, explore Oregon, and support Oregon Wild with the Membership Package! What's included: one-year membership to Oregon Wild, Oregon's Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide by Chandra LeGue, and an Oregon Wild T-Shirt.

Oregon-wild.square.site

Feb 16-25 | Give the Gift of Live Music! 75+ exciting events for all tastes. Join the 20th Anniversary celebration with Legends to Rising Stars; Jazz Masters to GRAMMY winners. Enjoy Angélique Kidjo, Hiatus Kaiyote, Hubert Laws, Meklit, Dave Holland, Thee Sacred Souls, Bill Frisell, Dumpstaphunk, The Budos Band, Storm Large & much more. pdxjazz.org

Bigfoot Adventure Cruise Tickets & Paul Lanquist Ornament, $135 Portland Spirit

Pint of the Month Club, $100 - $360 Holler Treats

Oregon Wild Membership Package, $75 Oregon Wild

Be a hero this holiday season and give the best in self-care with this UGG slipper. As soft as it is versatile, the Coquette features soft sheepskin and a lightweight sole that travels both indoors and out with ease. Shop local for this premium gift at Footwise today!

footwise.com 1433 NE Broadway

Gifts for Comfort

The Soulshine Ritual candle is made with uplifting and clearing essential oils free from artificial fragrances. Keynotes include palo santo, tulsi, cedarwood, and cannabis that light up relaxation. Up-cycle later for a beautiful flower jar. Press reset; invoke the magic of wonder and calm.

makeandmary.com 2506 NE Sandy Blvd.

You'll never have a wedgie again with Thunderpants! Designed not to ride up or roll down with Organic Cotton here in Portland, OR. A Woman-run company focused on sustainability and transparency. Join the comfy bum club and you'll never go back!

thunderpantsusa.com

The gift that keeps on giving! Purchase an Urban Waxx $100 gift card for ONLY $80. Redeemable for waxing services at any Urban Waxx location, along with all in-store retail including, skincare, candles, jewelry, and more! Perfect for self-care doers and skincare lovers. Shop in-store or use code "HOLIDAY" at checkout.

urbanwaxx.com 1036 NW 18th Ave & 3103 SE Division St

UGG Coquette Slipper, $119.95

Footwise

Soulshine Ritual Candle, $60 Make & Mary

$100 Gift Card Deal, $80 Urban Waxx

Thunderpants Original Underwear, $24 Thunderpants USA

Gifts Anyone on Your List Will Appreciate

Locally printed in our lab, these photo slates are your photos printed on natural, hand-cut materials with a smooth stone surface on the reverse side. Due to inconsistencies in shape, size, and coating each slate is a unique piece of art. Each photo slate includes tabletop display hardware.

prophotosupply.com 1112 19th Ave

Oregon Lottery Scratch-its are easy to buy and great to receive. They're perfect for spicing up holiday cards, topping off stockings, or giving a nice tip to anyone who makes your life a little easier year-round. If they win, it will be one of the most fun gifts they ever exchange. Check them out!

oregonlottery.org

Give a double-sided, designer ornament printed with your own photo and text! Choose from wood, metal, or glass. Made locally at our Lab in NW Portland, share captured moments with your friends and family this holiday season. prophotosupply.com 1112 NW 19th Ave.

Everybody has to eat. Everybody gets a little salty. Everybody likes to grind. Everybody needs a little spice sometimes. The Everybody Grinder is there for you whenever you need some flavor on your plate and some color in the kitchen. Designed by Dusen Dusen for Areaware. pdxasylum.com 3713 SE Hawthorne Blvd

This holiday season you can join the over 83,000 Portlanders who own a piece of our city’s living room. Buy a personalized brick in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Gift wrapping is available!

thesquarepdx.org 715 SW Morrison St. Ste 702

Take 3D wooden puzzling to a whole new level with this mechanical music box. Once assembled, the gear-driven mechanism moves the horses up and down as it rotates to the tune of a traditional carousel waltz. pittockmansion.org 3229 NW Pittock Drive

HOLIDAY TRIPS

Photos by Chris Nesseth On Instagram @chrisnesseth

“Psychedelic

—Cierra

In a scene reminiscent of a Frank Capra movie, hundreds of Portlanders stood in line, cold and snow be damned, to give a humble shopkeeper their money. In return, they received a sealed plastic bag of psilo cybin mushrooms. (Three and a half grams for $50.) The run on Shroom House became

a national story—proof, the jokesters said, that Portlanders would stand in line for anything, even a Schedule I drug that’s not legal for retail. But to many of the people we interviewed Dec. 3 on the West Burn side sidewalk, this was no laughing matter. It was more like a Christmas miracle.

“I

—Matt

—Dana

—Ruby

“ Whatever is available. I like supporting local business. I think we should have more rights and be able to partake of substances that aren’t hurting other people. I was the first paid door-todoor canvasser for mushroom decriminalization in the world.”

Water and Penis Envy to see if it’s better than the street kind and get the experience.”

and Damion Jackson

“Medical magic mushrooms to ease anxiety.” —Stan

“Opens your mind. I think there’s a lot of your brain that we don’t use.”

have bone disease called ankylosing spondylitis. This the only thing that gets me out of pain, getting an ounce of Penis Envy. When I found out this place was open, I jumped for joy.”

Carrie

I moved to Portland in 2011. I’m now fully spoiled for great coffee and beer, cool summer evenings, quirky lawns, and short trips to epic outdoor places. I love that Portlanders rarely get dressed up unless it’s in a cos tume. I love how hard this city falls for a new restau rant, and that I can be the most basic bitch in this town and the weirdest person in my family at the same time. And while I will never admit it to the ever-critical outof-towners, Portland needs to work on some things. Not everything, but some things. You know what I’m talking about. I want to know what’s going on in this city, but I can’t handle it from anyone who doesn’t love and care about her. Like how I can make fun of my brother, but you should keep your mouth shut. National news outlets do important work, but they don’t seem to know what to do with us if we aren’t all Portlandia and we aren’t all antifa.

I first subscribed to WW’s Daily Primer in 2020. It seemed like one of the few places to find out what was happening specifically in our streets and how it affected people. What our leaders were saying and doing. I was probably a bit manic on the refresh those days. Things felt out of control and the information was comforting, if not pleasant. Call it trauma bonding, but I never went back. I still want to know what’s happening specifically and locally, so I still subscribe.

Outside of crisis mode, one of my favorite Oregon rituals is voting by mail. My husband and I vote at the same time, usually over coffee and from different rooms, researching and hollering interesting facts or arguing down the hall. Willamette Week’s election cov erage and endorsements are in there every time. The logic behind their picks is clear and well-supported. I don’t always agree, but I do take it seriously.

I suppor t Willamette Week because I can tell they love and care about Portland. They write like it’s great and we can do better. We laugh and cr y together because it’s home and we’re invested.

WATCH: It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

How do you successfully stage a classic holiday movie that everybody is familiar with? Change the format. Portland Center Stage has transformed Frank Capra’s 1947 film into a radio drama, where a small troupe of performers take the audience through the story with sound effects and music. There are even a couple of oldtimey ads thrown in. And for traditionalists who love the movie, don’t worry—they haven’t tinkered with the script all that much. You can expect your favorite bits, including Zuzu’s petals, lassoing the moon, and a run on the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan—here with audience participation. Portland Center Stage at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave., 503-445-3700, pcs.org. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Friday, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday-Sunday, and 2 pm select Thurs days, through Dec. 24. $25-$98.

LISTEN: The Happy Enchiladas Trio

Bob Dylan called John Prine’s music “pure Proustian existentialism,” but the chill guitar and writerly lyrics are perfectly lovely, even if you’re not into pondering the meaning of it all. The Happy Enchilada Trio will perform covers of Prine’s work, a musical end to At the Garages’ day of free pool on Wednesday. The venue has more than 20 beer selections on hand, plus a classic pub grub menu to try while you’re there. At the Garages, 17880 SW McEwan Road, Lake Oswego, 503-941-9139, atthe garages.net. 7-10 pm, Wednesday, Dec. 7. $5 in advance, $10 at the door.



LISTEN:

Goon + Bridal Party

Chill out to the hazy dreamscape sounds

of Goon at Bunk Bar. The ensemble was formed during the pandemic, finding inspiration in everything from pastel Cal ifornia landscapes to quarantine isolation to manic piano music, with lyrics focused on the in-between moments. Goon plays with Bridal Party, who bring a distinct ly different vibe akin to Stereolab and Steely Dan. They’ve been called “a perfect marriage of indie pop and soul.” Bunk Bar Water, 1028 SE Water Ave., 503-328-2865, bunksandwiches.com. 9:30 pm Friday, Dec. 9. $18.92. 21+.

 GO: Miller Family Free Day at the Portland Art Museum

Celebrate the Portland Art Museum’s 130th birthday with free admission to the institution, which currently has several special exhibitions on display: Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe, which introduces new generations to one of the 20th century’s most innovative Native American painters, and multimedia artist Jeffrey Gibson’s They Come From Fire, an immersive installation that has transformed the exterior windows on the venue’s main building as well as the two-story Schnitzer Sculpture Court. You can reserve your complimentary tickets beginning Dec. 7. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave., portlandartmuseum. org. 10 am-5 pm Saturday, Dec. 11.

over 700 bottles and cans in its vast refrigerators, plus a generous tap list. The business will celebrate its milestone with samples, swag giveaways and live music by The Jeff and Guy Show (an anniversary tradition). MidCity SmashedBurgers will also be parked on site to keep everyone fed. Uptown Beer Co., 6620 SW Scholls Ferry Road, 503-336-4783, uptownbeer. co. 6-9 pm Saturday, Dec. 10.

 LISTEN:

Gangstagrass

Not unlike Phineas and Ferb, Gangsta grass promises to bring disparate forms of American music together with the objective of reaching higher levels of creativity. Hold your skepticism—the band’s album No Time for Enemies rose to No. 1 on the Billboard bluegrass chart, and their rhymes are praised as irrever ent and memorable. Enjoy a preshow seasonal cocktail from adjacent Bar Bar, then get ready for a high-energy set that will include a few holiday songs for good measure. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895, missis sippistudios.com. 9 pm Saturday, Dec. 10. $22. 21+.



GO: Wild Arts Festival 2022

portland.org. 10 am Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 10-11. $10.



GO: Portland Bazaar

It’s shopping season! If you’re feeling a vague sense of guilt due to the whole conspicuous consumerism of it all, we find a cocktail helps. Also, shopping locally should relieve you of any mental burden. Peruse original wares by 150-plus makers, designers and purveyors at the annual Portland Bazaar and conquer all of your gifting needs. The event will feature wrap ping services and a raffle to benefit a local nonprofit. Premier Gear & Machine Works Building, 1715 NW 17th Ave., portlandba zaar.com. 11 am-4 pm Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 10-11 and 17-18.

WATCH: The NOT-Cracker



DRINK: Uptown Beer Co.’s 11th Anniversary

Beer made from naturally occurring microflora? Uptown has it. A non-alco holic cacao-infused brew? Yep. Obscure dark beers of European origin? Definitely. Uptown Beer Co. was established 11 years ago to bring beer culture to its westside neighborhood, and now the spot boasts

Portland Audubon’s Wild Arts Festival, now in its 42nd year, attracts both nature lovers and fans of local painters, photog raphers and woodworkers. Meet authors and artists, find gifts for the wildlife enthu siasts in your life and maybe even place a bid on something slightly extravagant in the silent auction, like Swarovski binoc ulars or a four-day vacation at an Arch Cape beach house. Purchases support Portland Audubon’s ecological mission. Portland State University Viking Pavilion, 930 SW Hall St., 503-349-5907, audubon

The NOT-Cracker shakes up seasonal traditions, which should be welcome news for anyone who’s grown weary of the same old stories and productions year after year. The family-friendly dance performance takes the classic Tchaikovsky opus in a new direction, following an un fortunate fellow named Ted, who thinks he can’t dance. Expect irreverence, penguins, adorable student performers and excep tionally skilled professionals. Vancouver School of Arts and Academics Royal Durst Theatre, 3101 Main St., Vancouver, Wash., 503-966-0330, openspace.dance. 7:30 pm Saturday and 3:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 10-11. $20-$60.

AN ANGEL GETS HIS WINGS: Portland Center Stage presents It’s a Wonderful Life as a radio play this month.

COURTESY

Andi Prewitt Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

Big Fish

BY EZRA JOHNSON-GREENOUGH @samuraiartist

A newish restaurant near what’s left of Mall 205 just east of the freeway is trying something bold: operate as the only upscale Mexican seafood and steakhouse in a sea of chain eateries. Mi Cava & Cocina may be surrounded by shopping centers and strip clubs in various stages of decline, but the business shares little in common with its neighbors and offers diners a major upgrade from the area’s corporate-heavy fare, which includes the usual suspects (Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Red Robin, Denny’s).

Mi Cava’s building was once home to a chain itself. The bright white exterior is unmistakably the shell of a former Newport Bay—and while the marquee has been changed, the signature anchor remains next to the front door. Inside, the owners have made light renovations, mostly to the bar and patio, which ex ude a Mexico beach town/tourist trap vibe with colorful, clubby lighting that is best enjoyed with one of the signature margaritas, like La Toxica, a blend of tequila blanco, ancho chile liqueur and strawberries. The dining room, however, is vastly different with its minimalist décor, black booths and white walls, and a Top 40 soundtrack playing in the background. If anything, though, the restrained space puts the focus on the food and company.

Let’s be clear: Mi Cava is head and shoulders above most other

Latino restaurants east of 82nd Avenue. Plates, like fajitas with dry-aged steaks and seared Columbia River steelhead, come out piping hot. The waitstaff is attentive and educated about each ingredient, and can tell you the difference between mole and macha sauce. This is food for people who care that the crab in the seafood enchiladas was never frozen.

The fish and shareables dishes shine, but I’d pass on the fourhour stewed pork carnitas ($24), which were too dry and over cooked on my visit, but could be dressed up with the bevy of excellent housemade sauces, like achiote or serrano-lime soy. Some of the sides (beans, pico de gallo, and a generic salad) were bland compared to the more exemplary appetizers and house specialties. Load them up with extra sauces and dressings that are otherwise dabbed, dolloped or drizzled on the main plates.

The market-price pescado zarandeado arrived sizzling on a board after it was crisped head to tail on an open flame. Its buttery soft meat was drenched in a spicy adobo sauce that will make you reach for the accompanying bowl of puffy, infused rice. A side of steamed tortillas was also welcome, but the beans didn’t gel with the flavors of the fish and earthy adobo—and to make a taco, you need more than the pickled red onions and radish slices that come with the pescado as well.

You can make a satisfying meal from the appetizers, like steamed clams ($14), bacon-wrapped prawns ($18), chicken-and-cheese taquitos ($13), nachos ($13-$16), chorizo queso ($16), or the aguachile tatemado ($19) that we tried. While the latter—chewy chunks of tiger shrimp cured in lime juice with cilantro, pineapple and cucumber—weren’t quite at the peak of freshness on our visit, you’d hardly notice while spooning bites with crunchy tostadas in between sips of a mango, tamarind, watermelon and cucumber margarita.

Sometimes it feels like Mi Cava is trying too hard, like when the chips and salsa come out in hand-size fryer baskets, or when the addition of flower garnish on a drink seems to command a $5 upcharge. Mi Cava already stands out as the best fish in its shop ping center pond; however, it might need to focus on a smaller, more approachable menu rather than trying to blow the minds of nearby Home Depot and Target customers with dishes like wild-caught Spanish octopus and chipotle beurre blanc. But God bless them for trying.

EAT: Mi Cava & Cocina, 9722 SE Washington St., 971-383-1779, micavaandcocina.com. 11 am-10 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-11 pm Friday-Saturday.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Seafood dishes shine at Mi Cava & Cocina.

Editor:

Top 5

Hot Plates

WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.

1. GIGANTIC BREWING

HAWTHORNE

5224 SE 26th Ave., 503-208-3416, gigantic brewing.com. 3-9 pm Monday-Friday, noon-9 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Gigantic’s third location marks the com pany’s entry into food service and offers a menu that tracks the founders’ beer-related travels around the world. So far, everything coming out of the kitchen is solid, but the standout is the Flæskesteg, a Danish pork sandwich that is a tribute to those at Copen hagen’s Isted Grill. It comes with a crispy Carlton Farms roast pork loin that is barely contained in a brioche bun and layered with braised red cabbage, remoulade and house made dill pickles.

2. SCHOLAR PDX

2226 NE Broadway, 503-344-1507, scholarp dx.com. 5-9:30 pm Thursday-Sunday. A first look at Scholar’s menu reveals that it intends to please anyone who might walk through the door. There are ample libations, with amari prominently featured, both as a standalone and in mixed drinks. For dinner, 12-inch thin-crust pizzas are solid, with dark-baked rims encircling both red- and white-sauced pies. Order one of the predetermined choices, such as plain cheese or pepperoni, or build your own with up to three toppings. Best nonpizza item: Buffalo-style chicken livers with smoked blue cheese over polenta.

3. GRAND FIR BREWING

1403 SE Stark St., grandfirbrewing.com. Noon-10 pm Tuesday-Sunday, noon-11 pm Friday-Saturday.

It was only a matter of time before brewer Whitney Burnside and chef Doug Adams went into business together. The husbandand-wife team opened Grand Fir in the former West Coast Grocery Company space in mid-November, and there was a line around the block to get in on the first day (evidence of how highly anticipated this project has been). Adams’ famed smoked meats (braised elk, Calabrian chicken wings) anchor the food menu and pair perfectly with Burnside’s beers.

4. BAG O’ CRAB

3255 NE 82nd Ave., 971-716-8888, thebago crab.com. 3-10 pm Monday-Friday, noon-10 pm Saturday-Sunday. Looking for a good time? Call Bag O’ Crab. There is no way to feel serious about anything—except, perhaps, demolishing a large bag of Cajun-sauced crustaceans—the moment you step through the doors at this new restaurant, thanks to details like the gi ant lobster mural and a robot waitress. Keep the fun vibes going by ordering Combo 4: a lobster or Dungeness crab, shrimp, crawfish, clams, corn, potatoes and sausages. Use an order of garlic bread to sop up the spicy, buttery boil.

5. MATT’S BBQ TACOS AT GREAT NOTION BREWING

2204 NE Alberta St., #101, 503-548-4491, greatnotion.com. Noon-9 pm Sunday-Thurs day, noon-10 pm Friday-Saturday. One of the city’s most popular smokehouses is now officially in charge of the kitchen at Great Notion’s flagship. Matt’s BBQ Tacos moved into the brewery in early Novem ber—a change that will allow Great Notion’s owners to focus on continued expansion. You can expect all of Matt Vicedomini’s greatest hits at the pub, including tender slices of pork belly, chopped brisket, and smoked ground beef served on housemade, lard-infused flour or vegan corn tortillas.

Buzz List

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

1. BREAKSIDE BREWERY

Multiple locations, breakside.com. Hours vary by location.

Breakside is starting to see the fruits of its labor—overhauling its barrel-aging program—a project that began two years ago. The prolific brewery recently released a special case of six blended and aged stouts that debuted in 2021 and, earlier this year, were cellared, making the set an ideal holiday gift for the beer nerd in your life. Also look for the final two imperial stouts on draft and in bottles in the 2022 lineup: My Stars Shine Darkly (aged in bourbon and maple syrup bottles) and This Great Stage of Fools (aged in bourbon barrels with pecans and spices).

2. ABIGAIL HALL

813 SW Alder St., abigailhallpdx.com. 5-11 pm Tuesday-Wednesday, 5 pm-midnight Thursday-Saturday.

Now that Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror, we can go into full-on Christmas mode. And what better way to get into the holiday spirit than by drinking cocktails inspired by the season? Abigail Hall’s beverage director, Derek Jacobi (formerly of New York’s Dead Rabbit and Black Tail), has created a new cocktail menu with some Christmaslike drinks, including a Brûleevard ier (a take on crème brûlée) and Walnut Olivetto (a nod to lemon meringue pie).

3. STRAIGHTAWAY COCKTAILS TASTING ROOM

901 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 971-255-1627, straightawaycocktails.com. Noon-7 pm Mon day-Wednesday, noon-8 pm Thursday-Satur day, noon-5 pm Sunday.

There’s a good reason all of the charter yacht guests on the ever-expanding Bravo franchise Below Deck order an abundance of espresso martinis. The ’80s cocktail really is delicious, and thanks to the caffeine content, it helps keep the party going. Straightaway Cocktails and Stumptown Coffee teamed up to make their own canned version with coffee liqueur and cold brew, which you can now drink at the distiller’s Hawthorne tasting room or purchase to en joy at home. Sip carefully: This drink weighs in at 25% ABV.

4. MASALA LAB & MARKET

5237 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 971340-8635, masalalabpdx.com. 9 am-3 pm Thursday-Tuesday.

The recently opened Masala Lab just extend ed its hours of operation and added new items to the menu after the team had several weeks to perfect recipes. While everything coming out of the gluten-free kitchen sounds appealing—from the saagshuka to the chaat hash—we might be most excited about the lineup of new cocktails, boozy brunch classics with an Indian twist. As we head toward December, at least one chai hot toddy should accompany your meal.

5. SISSY BAR PORTLAND

1416 SE Morrison St., 503-206-4325, sissyb arportland.com. 4 pm-midnight Wednes day-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday, 4-11 pm Sunday.

There’s no dance floor or recurring drag shows at Sissy Bar, which tend to lure customers to other gay bars in town, but the new video lounge does offer a space for unapologetically queer company and the pop music sustaining the community. Open since June, the venue is heavy on moving images for aesthetics, illuminated by both YouTube videos of recording artists and colored cubes reminiscent of the electronic memory game Simon. Order a Will Smith Punch, which here happens to be a drink, not a blow to the head.

Lavender Haze

BY BRIANNA WHEELER

Not all cannabis highs feel the same. And discovering which strains lead to an experience perfectly suited for you is an exercise in knowing both your cannabinoids and your terps, aka terpenes, the naturally occurring chemical compounds that not only give plants their aroma and flavor, but also contribute to their overall effects.

Take, for example, linalool, an essential oil found in over 200 species of plants, including cannabis. Best known for its lavender aroma, linalool has a number of therapeutic uses, acting as an analgesic, anticonvulsant and anti-in flammatory while also offering relief from stress, anxiety and chronic pain. A 2016 study found that linalool could reverse neuropathological and behavioral impairments in mice with Alzheimer’s. Additional research has found that the chemical compound is an effective post-op pain reliever on par with opioids, curbing the need for pharmaceutical relief altogether in 50% of the patients studied.

Recreatioanlly, cannabis cultivars with linalool-forward terpene profiles are typically relaxing and stress relieving, bringing peace to otherwise overextended users. And while linalool is often a supporting player, or secondary/minor terpene, there are a handful of linalool-dominant strains. Here are some of our favorites:

Durban

For wake-and-bake smokers who want a snappy daytime strain that also allows them to relax, Durban might be worth an audition. This cultivar is as peppy as Durban-hybrid users would expect, with a sparkling onset and an elastic body buzz that both invigorates and calms. Consider skipping the coffee, though. Durban delivers a hot streak of glittering energy that caffeine might corrupt. Expect a woody, flowery perfume and pungent citrusy exhale.

BUY: Budlandia, 8135 SE Woodward St., 503-412-8447, bud landiapdx.com.

Red Haze

Another dazzling, peppy strain made soft by its terp profile is Red Haze, a bright and vitalizing cultivar that, for the right user, might take the place of morning caffeine. This cross of Neville’s Haze and Colombian Red delivers a balance of clearheaded energy and super-cushy, but not sleepy, relax

ation. Most users describe highs that feel typically sativa, which is to say, upbeat. But many also report body highs that land on the mellower side, so go slow to figure out how your endocannabinoid receptors will react. Expect a sharp piney perfume and nutty, earthy exhale.

BUY: Green Planet, 17332 SE Powell Blvd., 503-912-1144.

Runtz 33

This version of the popular Runtz strain delivers balanced effects: round and soothing in the bod, sharp and airy in the head. Users report chest-rattling onsets that ease into a deep, sleepy couchlock, bottomless munchies, and rose-colored mood boosts. Consider it a wind-down strain, so newbies should exercise caution just in case you end up falling asleep when you simply intended to chillax. Expect an earthy, sour aroma and a funky tropical exhale with lingering notes of flower petals.

BUY: Eden Cannabis, 128 SE 12th Ave., 503-477-9998, eden craftcannabis.com.

Xena

For potheads looking for a blissful strain, reserve a place in your stash box for Xena. This cross of Starfighter and Tina delivers a potent, nonsedative sense of relaxation in the body (arousal is also a noted effect), alongside a manageable euphoria that’s suitable for day or evening use. Fibromyalgia patients have reported Xena is an effective treatment for pain management. Expect a sharp diesel nose and piney, flowery exhale.

BUY: Nectar, 8601 SW Terwilliger Blvd., 971-754-4956, nectar. store/terwilliger.

Lavender

The aptly named Lavender is a linalool-rich cross of Super Skunk, Big Skunk Korean and Afghani Hawaiian. Those genetics deliver both an airy head high and velvety body buzz, while people struggling with anxiety, chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders and migraines may find relief from their symptoms after using this strain. If the aroma of fresh lavender lifts your spirits, consider the namesake cultivar your go-to.

BUY: Puddletown Organics, 8201 SE Powell Blvd., Suite F, 503-558-6321, puddletownorganics.com.

Get to know linalool, the terpene found in lavender, basil and some cannabis strains, with typically relaxing effects.

BY MICHELLE KICHERER @michelle kicherer PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICK HANGLAND-SKILL

Walking into Voodoo Catbox is like stepping into Geppetto’s stu dio. The floors are draped in rich, multicolored rugs; the bottom two-thirds of the walls are lined with shallow-drawered, wooden and metal filing cabinets. And all along the remaining free walls are concert posters chronicling the last several decades of owner Gary Houston’s prolific screen-printing career.

At the far end of the studio, under a slanted, skylit roof is a desk covered with illustrations and notes, black scratchboards and angled cutting knives. The words “old timey” come to mind.

And Houston is down with that.

“Digital is all fine and well, but…who cares?” says Houston, whose handiwork will be available at his annual show and sale at Music Millennium on Dec. 10 and 11. Houston loves the fact that every step of the process is organic and touched by a hu man’s hand. He’s known for his intricate scratchboard artwork and hand-cut, screen-printed posters. Each piece is unique, and once a batch is sold out, that’s it.

Well known as the Waterfront Blues Festival poster guy, Hous ton has made concert posters for so many artists it’s hard to keep track. Yet he seems to have a mind like a steel trap. He starts listing off a few: Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, David Byrne,

Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus…the list is many years long.

I point out a signed B.B. King poster. “That one is actually an R. Crumb,” he says, pointing to Crumb’s signature. Houston gets on a B.B. King tangent, which somehow leads to talking about how Ringo Starr moves like a dancer on the drums. “He’s left-handed, you know,” Houston says.

Houston lives and breathes music. “Sometimes I feel like a bottom feeder,” he confesses. He doesn’t want to make money off of what any musicians are doing, but artists like him are an important part of the music industry. “You want this to be in the things we do,” he says, patting his heart. “And, look, I’m never gonna be wealthy, but at the same time, I haven’t missed too many meals.”

Referring to himself jokingly, he adds, “Sure, there are days I want to fire myself. My boss is a jackass.”

We take a look at this year’s Waterfront Blues Festival poster, which features a blues guy sitting on a suitcase and plucking away on his guitar. In the background we see the familiar blues story creep in: the devil rolling in with, we assume, an offer for the musician’s soul.

Houston takes me to a multicolored cabinet and slides open a drawer, from which he selects each component of the original poster: the intricate drawing, each layer of screen for the printing process: magenta, ochre, blue. He explains how screen printing works and how he doesn’t decide what colors anything will be until he’s actually cutting the screens. Then he stops and points at the giant printer by his desk.

“I make it up as I go along, whereas if I printed it in a print er? We’d be going through film and ink like that,” he snaps his fingers. “And we’d be locked in. But with screen printing, I can make changes as I go. You go to every city and there are people that are doing the same thing. And the nice thing about that is that we’re all keeping screen printing alive.”

Houston continues guiding me through his screen printing and coloring process, pointing out all the drying racks. To take us full circle, he explains that his process is all about the rhythm and texturing.

“It’s like its own little puzzle,” he says. “And it all starts with a drawing.”

GO: Gary Houston’s annual show and sale will be held at Music Millennium, 3158 E Burnside St., 503-231-8926, music millennium.com. 10 am-6 pm Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 10-11.

“Digital is all fine and well, but... who cares?”

DANIEL BROMFIELD @bromf3

FRIDAY, DEC. 9:

From its humble origins in Hoboken, N.J., to its dominance of the late ’90s Chicago post-rock scene’s explosion of cre ativity to its current anything-goes roster, the Thrill Jockey label boasts a catalog as unpredictable as it is consistent. To celebrate 30 years in business, the label is throwing a massive touring-revue party with some of their local signees, includ ing noise-metal duo The Body, Ripley Johnson’s spacedout country project Rose City Band, and guitar whiz Marisa Anderson. Talk about eclectic! Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave. 8 pm. $18. 21+.

MONDAY, DEC. 12:

Metz ’s 10th anniversary tour isn’t actually their 10th anniversa ry tour; they spent years honing their pummeling noise punk in Toronto clubs before turning the rock world upside-down with their self-titled debut in 2012. If they sounded pulveriz ing then, imagine what that extra decade has done for their mosh-starting skills. Support comes from the awesome Bay Area doom metal band Kowloon Walled City, whose sound is no less dense and dystopian then the towering urban accumu lation they were named for. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 9 pm. $25. 21+.

MONDAY, DEC. 12:

While their sister band Tame Impala has become something of a mainstream pop institution, Pond remains scrappy, fuzzy and devoted to old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll—though that hardly means they’re traditional or conventional by any means. Across nine studio albums in a little more than a decade, the Australian psych-rock project has specialized in making the kind of songs you hear in public and immediately pull your phone out to Shazam: weird and woolly, yet catchy and un mistakably contemporary. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. 8 pm. $20. 21+ floor, all ages balcony.

Across the Metaverse

Corrib Theatre’s production of Hannah Khalil’s science fiction play reveals a disturbingly familiar

BY MORGAN SHAUNETTE

In the distant past of 2019, back when Facebook was just called Facebook and hand sanitizer wasn’t a pre cious resource, playwright Hannah Khalil wrote a story about a dystopian future in which human interaction happens only through a computer screen.

Khalil called the play Metaverse, and since its incep tion, it’s only grown more relevant—and, regrettably, prescient, as Corrib Theatre’s new production (direct ed by Holly Griffith) proves.

Our story takes place in some unnamed future so ciety, where a mother (Wynee Hu) works hard on a mysterious project for a tech giant, her only respite being weekly VR calls with her daughter (Annabel Cantor). Something else may be going on at the com pany, however—something sinister that the mother’s co-worker (Jerilyn Armstrong) may or may not be in on that makes our heroine doubt the very nature of her reality.

This is, of course, well-trodden ground for specu lative fiction. The genre is littered with stories about the perils of artificially constructed worlds and the mechanization of human faculties, including rela tionships. Indeed, Metaverse can’t help but feel like a middle-of-the-road episode of Black Mirror. The

question is, does the play add enough to a familiar genre to make it worth your time?

In a word, yes Metaverse makes the wise move not to build its story on advanced technology, but rather the effect technology has on people. It grounds itself in the mother’s struggle, her relationships and her all too human desire to finish her work and reunite with her daughter.

Hu proves more than up to the task to sell that yearning and desperation. Her performance anchors the story in genuine emotions and makes it worth following.

This proves a necessary step, as Metaverse doesn’t concern itself in the slightest with creating a fully fleshed-out future. The nature of whatever stratified the world is never explained, and no onstage character is given the distinction of a real name.

The set consists of a single light-up desk and bright white angular arches, as if Fritz Lang had designed an Apple Store. The music offers eerie guitar notes from Quinn Mulligan, who occasionally joins the cast as the subject of the mother’s experiments.

All of this creates an eerie minimalism that none too subtly informs the audience how far off and un recognizable this future is (in some respects), but it works in the story because the play is grounded in its relationships and the mother’s emotional journey. Her creeping paranoia is earned and, coming from a world of spyware and Google analytics, all too understand able.

Metaverse is a smaller story than one might expect from science fiction, but it’s still a personal tale about isolation, fear and the unwavering need for human connection we all share. At a breezy 60 minutes, it’s a compelling trip to a dystopia that’s not as far away as we might hope.

SEE IT: Metaverse plays at 21ten Theatre, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 503-389-0579, corribtheatre.org. 7:30

and 2 pm Sunday, through Dec. 18. $15-$35.

/ PHOTO BY OWEN CAREY

OPEN SPACES: Wynee Hu and Quinn Mulligan.

MOVIES

Old Legend, New Life

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio tells a familiar tale in Nazi-controlled Italy.

BY ALEX BARR

The story of Pinocchio takes flight in various forms. Previous generations have encountered the story in a variety of media, beginning with its inception in 1881. Now, director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) has readapted the centuries-old tale using stop-motion animation, filling it with humanity and truth. Also, it’s likely the only iteration to take place in Nazi-controlled Italy.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio strips Carlo Collodi’s original story to its bones while affixing the jarring strands of honesty that tie together much of del Toro’s artistic canon. Searching for a company willing to produce his not so child friendly adaptation, the writer and director found an ally in the Portland animation studio ShadowMachine.

The cutting-edge company helmed by Alexander Bulk ley has worked on ingenious off-color animated shows like Bojack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie, the Adult Swim staple Robot Chicken and, most recently, Little Demon, starring Danny DeVito, his daughter Lucy DeVito, and Aubrey Plaza. ShadowMachine has undoubtedly had a hand in shaping the motifs of modern animation while pushing the boundary of what’s expected.

This latest project has proven to be one of its greatest works in stop-motion animation. The film’s visuals are unrelentingly beautiful, even when depicting bloodcur dling moments of heartbreak and grief. Pinocchio graces the screen appearing as more wooden puppet than boy,

in stark contrast to Disney’s 1940 retelling.

Pinocchio’s unsanded and unpainted figure, along with haphazard branches and a thickly wood-grained face, con stantly remind the audience of his central predicament: He exists in the fantastical space between puppet and boy. But del Toro, Patrick McHale and Matthew Robbins’ writing breathes more life into the character than ever witnessed before.

Although the film’s tone strays from the Disney standard of a children’s movie by including war, death and myriad complex father-son relationships, it doesn’t necessarily exclude children from enjoying the story. Throughout the film, there’s a clear moral argument about the ways in which children perceive their parents and vice versa.

While the film is elevated and thought provoking, there are assuredly children who will find comfort in its dedi cation to authenticity. Today’s kids are experiencing life with an unfettered access to truth (and its opposite) via the internet and social media—and del Toro’s unwillingness to modify his tone serves as a refreshing example of an honest children’s movie.

No matter age or familiarity with the original story, audiences across the country will quickly recognize Guill ermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as a new holiday favorite.

SEE IT: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, rated PG, plays at Cinemagic, City Center, Division, Hollywood, Joy Cinema, Movies on TV and Pioneer Place.

STREAMING WARS

YOUR WEEKLY FILM QUEUE

BY BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON @thobennett

In Knives Out mastermind Rian Johnson’s Brick (2005), Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a teen detective investigat ing the murder of his ex-girlfriend, who may have been involved with local drug lord “The Pin” (Lukas Haas). Dialogue and all, the film is like a Humphrey Bogart movie transplanted at a California high school. Also, it has a great third-person brag: “If you put me in the game, Brad Bramish is going to do what needs to be done!” Starz.

HOLLYWOOD PICK:

If the final week before James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water floods theaters feels long, why not pass the time by watching Cameron’s True Lies (1994)? It’s morally offensive (for too many reasons to explain here) and not very good, but you can’t be a Cameron completist unless you’ve watched Arnold Schwarzenegger ride a horse into an elevator. Based on the 1991 French film La Totale! Hulu.

INTERNATIONAL PICK:

Wong Kar-wai may have made his directorial debut with the glorious gangster flick As Tears Go By, but his sig nature brand of woozy romanticism really solidified with Days of Being Wild (1990). The main plot (which focuses on Leslie Cheung’s wrathful playboy) wears out its wel come, but a heartfelt vignette about spurned lover (Mag gie Cheung) and a stoic policeman (Andy Lau) roaming the streets of Hong Kong is as beautifully haunting as anything Wong has created. HBO Max.

INDIE PICK:

HOLIDAY PICK:

The Lohan-aissance is upon us! In Janeen Damian’s Fall ing for Christmas (2022), Lindsay Lohan plays Sierra Bel mont, an amnesiac heiress wooed by a hunky lodge owner (Chord Overstreet). Shout-out to George Young, who is insanely funny as Tad Fairchild, the preening social media influencer Sierra can’t remember she’s engaged to. Netflix.

Editor: Bennett Campbell Ferguson Contact: bennett@wweek.com

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s phenomenal final film is a twisted erotic odyssey, centered on a doctor (Tom Cruise) whose life is upended after a pot-fueled confession from his wife (Nicole Kidman). Spiraling down Christmas-lit New York streets, he stumbles upon a secret society after meeting a jazz club pianist played by Todd Field, the Portland-raised director of this year’s masterful TÁR Academy, Dec. 7-8.

Carol (2015)

Speaking of TÁR, Todds, and New York…Cate Blanchett stars in this sapphic romance as an unhappily mar ried housewife who falls for a younger photographer (Rooney Mara) in a New York department store. When the star-crossed lovers take a road trip together, a torrid, wintry and dangerously dreamy affair is ignited. Direct ed by Portland’s own Todd Haynes! Hollywood, Dec. 8. Academy, Dec. 9-15.

Tron (1982)

A groundbreaker of CGI filmmaking technology, this ne on-soaked sci-fi adventure stars Jeff Bridges as a video game developer who gets sucked into cyberspace after a noble hacking attempt gone awry. It’s also an all-time favorite of electro-music duo Daft Punk, who scored the 2010 sequel. Screens in 70 mm. Hollywood, Dec. 9, 11.

Black Christmas (1974)

Cited as one of the earliest slasher films (John Carpenter has credited it for influencing Halloween), the original Black Christmas follows a group of sorority sisters who receive a series of threatening phone calls before being killed off one by one over winter break. Screens as part of the Hollywood’s December Holiday Classics series. Hollywood, Dec. 10-11.

Burn After Reading (2008)

One of the more underrated films in the Coen brothers’ oeuvre, this dry spy comedy follows an eclectic group of idiots, including a deeply insecure personal trainer (Frances McDormand), her himbo co-worker (Brad Pitt), a majorly incompetent U.S. marshal (George Clooney), an alcoholic CIA analyst (John Malkovich), and his long-suffering wife (Tilda Swinton). Clinton, Dec. 12-13.

ALSO PLAYING:

Academy: From Russia With Love (1963), Dec. 7-8. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Dec. 9-15. Holly wood: The Moneychanger (2019), Dec. 7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Dec. 10. Die Hard (1988), Dec. 10-11. A Christmas Story (1983), Dec. 11. Crippled Avengers (1978), Dec. 13.

ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED

Having interviewed Edward Snowden from his Hong Kong hotel room, Citizenfour director Laura Poitras is used to making difficult films. But her new documentary, which captures the life and art of photographer Nan Goldin, accomplishes more of a poetic feat. Poitras introduces us to Goldin first as a protester against the OxyContin-peddling Sackler family and their prominence as art museum donors. Then, the film becomes a flood of childhood memories, centering on how Goldin’s older sister’s personal rebellion presaged her own. Poitras then changes pitch again and ushers us into Goldin’s transformative photography, rhythmically re-creating her iconic slideshow format and showcasing her No Wave-era Polaroids of frank sex and queer life. All the while, you can feel (but not see) Poitras sitting in a room somewhere with Goldin, exploring all her wisdom and unhealed wounds, while still leaving silence within this unlikely amalgam of an issues doc, bi opic and formally fitting artistic testament. The slow revelation of the film’s title poignantly proves that Goldin’s life runs too deep, too heated for conventional reconstruction, which makes her a perfect subject for Poitras. Neither image-maker will stand for denial. Point the camera and look. NR. CHANCE SOLEM PFEIFER. Cinema 21.

VIOLENT NIGHT

EMPIRE OF LIGHT

: THIS MOVIE IS EXCELLENT, ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR.

: THIS MOVIE IS GOOD. WE RECOMMEND YOU WATCH IT.

: THIS MOVIE IS ENTERTAINING BUT FLAWED.

: THIS MOVIE IS A STEAMING PILE.

In this holiday season’s bag of cinematic gifts, director Tommy Wirkola (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, the Dead Snow franchise) has offered up one hell of a stocking stuffer. Violent Night stars a flawless David Harbour as a drunk and sullen St. Nick anguished by the commer cialization of Christmas. While going through the motions of home-invasion gift deliveries, he stumbles upon mercenaries led by “Scrooge” (John Leguizamo) who are holding a wealthy family hostage for the $300 million located in their basement, for some reason. Santa’s sympathy for the youngest hostage, Trudy (Leah Brady), snaps him into going medieval on these villains by tapping into his dark origins, which we learn nothing about. Violent Night skillfully re-creates the gruesome fun of R-rated action comedies like Super and Kick-Ass, but without any emotional consequences. For a movie that asks its audience to accept such a wild premise, it underuses its creative license in every aspect but the kills, yet still delivers a riotously fun spectacle starring a lovable, murderous, man bun-sporting Santa Claus trapped in a mediocre story. R. RAY GILL JR. Bagdad, Bridge port, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Laurelhurst, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, St. Johns, Studio One, Tigard.

It’s taken a couple of decades, but Sam Mendes has finally become a British filmmak er. Born in Reading, England, the Oscar-winning director spent the first phase of his career besot ted with Americana: gangsters, fast food, suburbia, Marines, you name it. Yet with Skyfall Spectre and 1917, he thoroughly em braced his Britishness—and with its tea, neat suits and repressed feelings, the 1980s-set Em pire of Light might be his most English film yet. Olivia Colman stars as Hillary, who falls in love with Stephen (Micheal Ward of Lovers Rock), her much-younger co-worker at a movie theater on England’s South Coast. The entire movie could have been devoted to their romance, but Mendes’ screenplay wolfs down more melodrama than it can handle. Hillary explodes with self-incin erating emotion, then vanishes; Donald (Colin Firth), her cruel boss, quits offscreen; and the skinhead rally that shatters the theater’s doors is over as swiftly as it begins. Narratively, Empire of Light is a mess, but it’s also too tidy for its own good (Ste phen impresses Hillary not only with his sexual prowess, but his ability to perfectly bind a bird’s broken wing with his sock). When Mendes made American Beauty, Alan Ball’s triumphantly salacious screenplay left little room for prettified sentiment, whereas Empire of Light gets suffocated by lacquered elegance. It may be filled with ravings about the pow er of cinema, but it’s anything but cinematic. R. BENNETT CAMP BELL FERGUSON. Fox Tower.

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER

Dr. Héctor Abad Gómez certainly deserves a tribute. In the ’70s and ’80s, the Colombi an college professor and public health advocate fought tirelessly for the poor of Medellín, despite violent political pushback.

According to his son’s memoir, Abad Gómez was an endlessly affectionate father as well. But director Fernando Trueba’s adaptation flattens the doctor’s achievements and humanity into an unwieldy, lovesick ballad from son to father—with a style that’s often cheesy and sometimes just plain shoddy. The director best known for the Oscar-win ning Belle Époque (1992) applies epic scope to young Héctor’s childhood through his post-col lege years, going so broad (with certitude that we care about un established and unimportant side characters) that any hope of dra matic tension fades. Sometimes it’s not even clear why young Héctor is part of this story at all.

High-toned arthouse tropes—like toggling from color to black-andwhite—add little, while gleaming cinematography meant to convey golden memory instead creates a digital blur. As Dr. Abad Gómez, Javier Cámara’s performance de scends from mildly interesting to serviceable as the movie refuses to let this activist experiencing intense conflict appear conflict ed. Some children view their parents as gods, but why should the film of their life follow suit?

NR. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Living Room.

by Jack Kent

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries painter Vincent van Gogh was renowned for translating his sub lime and unruly passions into colors and shapes on canvas. It was a demanding task. He careened between torment and ecstasy. "I put my heart and soul into my work," he said, "and I have lost my mind in the process." That's sad! But I have good news for you, Aries. In the coming months, you will have the potential to reach unprec edented new depths of zest as you put your heart and soul into your work and play. And hallelujah, you won't lose your mind in the process! In fact, I suspect you will become more mentally healthy than you've been in a long time.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "The soul is silent," writes Taurus poet Louise Glück. "If it speaks at all, it speaks in dreams." I don't agree with her in general, and I especially don't agree with her in regard to your life in the coming weeks. I believe your soul will be singing, telling jokes, whisper ing in the dark, and flinging out unexpected observations. Your soul will be extra alive and alert and awake, tempting you to dance in the grocery store and fling out random praise and fantasize about having your own podcast. Don't underestimate how vivacious your soul might be, Taurus. Give it permission to be as fun and funny as it yearns to be.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The coming weeks will be an excellent time to expand your understand ing about the nature of stress. Here are three study aids: 1. High stress levels are not healthy for your mind and body, but low to moderate stress can be good for you. 2. Low to moderate stress is even better for you if it involves dilemmas that you can ultimately solve. 3. There is a thing called "eustress," which means beneficial stress. It arises from a challenge that evokes your vigor, resilience, and willpower. As you deal with it, you feel hopeful and hardy. It's meaningful and interesting. I bring these ideas to your attention, dear Gemini, because you are primed to enjoy a rousing upgrade in your relationship with stress.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Long before he launched his illustrious career, Cancerian inventor Buck minster was accepted to enroll at Harvard Uni versity. Studying at such a prestigious education al institution was a high honor and set him up for a bright future. Alas, he was expelled for partying too hard. Soon he was working at odd jobs. His fortunes dwindled, and he grew depressed. But at age 32, he had a pivotal mystical experience. He seemed to be immersed in a globe of white light hovering above the ground. A disembodied voice spoke, telling him he "belonged to the universe" and that he would fulfill his life purpose if he applied himself to serving "the highest advantage of others." How would you like a Buckminster Fuller-style intervention, Cancerian? It's avail able if you want it and ask for it.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo-born Judith Love Cohen was an electrical engineer who worked on NASA's Apollo Space Program. She was also the mother of the famous actor Jack Black. When she was nine months pregnant with Jack, on the day she went into labor, she performed a heroic service. On their way to the moon, the three astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft had encountered a major systems failure. In the midst of her birth process, Judith Love Cohen carried out advanced troubleshooting that helped save their lives and bring their vehicle safely back to Earth. I don't expect you to achieve such a monumental feat in the coming days, Leo. But I suspect you will be extra intrepid and even epic in your efforts. And your ability to magically multitask will be at a peak.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): When you're at the height of your powers, you provide the people in your life with high-quality help and support. And I believe you could perform this role even stron ger in 2023. Here are some of the best benefits you can offer: 1. Assist your allies in extracting bright ideas from confusing mishmashes. 2. Help them cull fertile seeds from decaying dross. 3. As they wander through messy abysses, aid them

in finding where the redemption is. 4. Cheer on their successes with wit and charm.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A blogger named Daydreamydyke explains the art of bestow ing soulful gifts. Don't give people you care for generic consumer goods, she tells us. Instead, say to them, "I picked up this cool rock I found on the ground that reminded me of you," or "I bought you this necklace for 50 cents at a yard sale because I thought you'd like it," or "I've had this odd little treasure since childhood, but I feel like it could be of use to you or give you comfort, so I want you to have it." That's the spirit I hope you will adopt during the holiday season, Libra—as well as for all of 2023, which will be the year you could become a virtuoso gift-giver.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes invented three-dimensional plastic wallpaper. No one bought the stuff, though. A few years later, they rebranded it as Bubble Wrap and marketed it as material to protect packages during shipment. Success! Its new use has been popular ever since. I suspect you are in a phase comparable to the time between when their plastic wallpaper flopped and before they dreamed up Bubble Wrap. Have faith in the possibility of there being a Second Act, Scorpio. Be alert for new applica tions of possibilities that didn't quite make a splash the first time around.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I applaud your expansive curiosity. I admire your yearning to learn more and more about our mysterious world as you add to your understanding of how the game of life works. Your greed for interesting experiences is good greed! It is one of your most beautiful qualities. But now and then, there come times when you need to scale down your quest for fresh, raw truths and work on integrating what you have already absorbed. The coming weeks will be one of those times.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Better than most, you have a rich potential to attune yourself to the cyclical patterns of life. It's your birthright to become skilled at discerning natural rhythms at work in the human comedy. Even more fortu nately, Capricorn, you can be deeply comforted by this awareness. Educated by it. Motivated by it. I hope that in 2023, you will develop your capacity to the next level. The cosmic flow will be on your side as you strive to feel the cosmic flow— and place yourself in closer and closer alignment with it.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Anne, a character in a book by L. M. Montgomery, says she prefers the word "dusk" over "twilight" because it sounds so "velvety and shadowy." She continues, "In daylight, I belong to the world . . . in the night to sleep and eternity. But in the dusk, I'm free from both and belong only to myself." According to my astrological assessment, you Aquarians will go through a dusk-like phase in the coming weeks: a time when you will belong solely to yourself and any other creature you choose to join you in your velvety, shadowy emancipation.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): My Piscean friend Venus told me, "We Pisceans feel everything very intensely, but alas, we do not possess the survival skills of a Scorpio or the enough-is-enough, selfprotective mechanism of the Cancerians. We are the water sign most susceptible to being engulfed and flooded and overwhelmed." I think Venus is somewhat correct in her assessment. But I also believe you Fishes have a potent asset that you may not fully appreciate or call on enough. Your ability to tune into the very deepest levels of emotion potentially provides you with access to a divine power source beyond your personality. If you allow it to give you all of its gifts, it will keep you shielded and safe and supported.

Homework: Make a prediction about the best thing that will happen in your life during 2023. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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