36.02 Willamette Week, November 18, 2009

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wweek.com

VOL 36/02 11.18.2009

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

Part II

Randyland WW examines whether Randy Leonard is using his power to benefit one of Portland’s most influential people. By Nigel Jaquiss | page 13

BlueMoonBrewingCo.com

2

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

CONTENT

SCHOOL BLAZE: Are Portland’s schools getting stringent fire inspections? Page 7.

NEWS

6

HEADOUT

29

LEAD STORY

13

MUSIC

31

CULTURE

22

SCREEN

45

DISH

25

CLASSIFIEDS

53

STAFF Editor-in-Chief Mark Zusman EDITORIAL Managing News Editor Henry Stern Arts & Culture Editor Kelly Clarke Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, James Pitkin, Beth Slovic Copy Chief Kat Merck Copy Editors Matt Buckingham, Peggy Perdue, Sarah Smith Special Sections Editor Ben Waterhouse Screen Editor Aaron Mesh Music Editor Casey Jarman Assistant Music Editor Michael Mannheimer Editorial Interns Jenny Booth, Jonathan Crowl, Sasha Ingber, India Nicholas, Brittany Rogers Kate Williams CONTRIBUTORS Stage Ben Waterhouse Classical Brett Campbell Visual Arts Richard Speer

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Anyone removing papers in bulk from our distribution points will be prosecuted, as they say, to the full extent of the law.

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To be considered for calendar listings, notice of events must be received in writing by noon Wednesday, two weeks before publication. Send to Calendar Editor. Photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. Questions concerning circulation or subscription inquiries should be directed to Robert Lehrkind at Willamette Week. postmaster: Send all address changes to Willamette Week, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Subscription rates: One year $90, six months $45. Back issues $5 for walk-ins, $8 for mailed requests when available. Willamette Week is mailed at third-class rates.

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3

INBOX RANDYLAND IS OUR MAKING

M A RY L H U R S T U N I V E R S I T Y M A RY L H U R S T U N I V E R S I T Y

One of the most interesting examples of Randy Leonard’s leadership style was his public dispute with Ted Wheeler last year regarding urban renewal.

It wasn’t enough to merely disagree.

For Randy, it was a personal insult that anybody would question his decision-making. His response was to let loose with a barrage of personal and outrageous attacks toward Wheeler.

As it turns out, Wheeler and his staff at the county were and are very well aware of how urban renewal works and the effect it has on revenues at the county and the school districts. (See Jim Redden’s very informative article in last week’s Tribune.)

Pretty clearly, it was Randy who didn’t understand the issue.

But most galling was Randy’s willingness to hold all city-county cooperation hostage, suggesting that everything the city does is subject to his whims and antagonisms, and that public resources are his personal playthings.

But Wheeler got off lucky.

The other members of the City Council, should they differ with Randy on anything, are routinely subject to these sorts of attacks on their motives, integrity and/or brains.

Given the scathing hits they take every day from him, it’s either an amazing show of their patience or a testament to their fear of him that he continues to have any influence over his colleagues at all.

“JJ Gildersneeze” Via wweek.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification.

Letters must be 250 or fewer words.

SUBMIT TO: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210.

Fax: (503) 243-1115 Email: mzusman@wweek.com

Explore Explore your your next chapter. next chapter.

S

WWeek.com Readers Speak On… “THANKSGIVING FOR LAZY PEOPLE 2009” “Not helpful at all. You only gave the street address for Thanksgiving buffets.

I don’t know which city and state, nor was the area code given for the phone number. I can’t call these places.”—“Joan Bucher” “What’s more, you did not specify the name of the person who will answer the phone, and in which languages they can communicate. You also neglected to indicate handicap accessibility. Looks like we will be eating out of a can again this holiday— thanks, Willamette Week.”

—“Lyndon Baines Johnson” “Looks like the old Google just isn’t gonna fly for looking things up anymore…too bad for Joan, she is going to starve.

And FYI, these are all for Portland, MAINE. Joan, if you start right now you can drive there by the holiday and get out of our awesome state, we don’t need anyone like you.”

—“Wow” “Jeez. Give Joan a break.

It is titled Thanksgiving for LAZY People.” —“Sean”

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WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

Mystery: What has become of Kvinneakt, the naked female statue made famous along with Bud Clark? It used to be in front of a bank on the downtown bus mall.

—Michael Kuhn, Portland First, let’s bring our less-ancient readers (no offense, Mike) up to speed on what you’re asking: Back in the 1980s, before Hefeweizen, the Dandy Warhols, and Tonya Harding put us on the nation’s cultural radar, Portland was pretty much the Akron of the West—not really famous for anything in particular.

In those days, we had to take whatever notoriety we could get, and some of that was due to a 1973 poster by photographer Michael Ryerson called “Expose Yourself to Art.” The poster depicted a disreputable-looking bearded man in a raincoat flashing the statue in question, a bronze nude by Norman Taylor. It made us

famous because the bartender who posed as the flasher, Bud Clark, was elected mayor in 1984.

Anyway, you’ll be pleased to hear that Kvinneakt (Norwegian for “naked lady”— remember that if you’re ever in Oslo) hasn’t gone far.

“During the construction for the new light rail, all of the existing sculptures were removed, cleaned and re-sited,” says Peggy Kendellen, of the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Kvinneakt is now on Southwest 6th Avenue between Morrison and Alder streets. Donations toward a parallel effort to remove, clean, and re-site former Mayor Bud Clark can be sent to this newspaper.

The original photo was considered culturally significant enough to be enclosed in a time capsule in the cornerstone of Good Samaritan hospital, though future generations will probably be too distracted by the frog that sings “Hello My Baby” to pay it much attention.

QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com

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5

WWEEK.COM: Please help area nonprofits at WW’s Give!Guide.

NEWS: Portland’s new cannabis cafe opens.

8 ROGUE: Which city bureau says it needs a third flack?

10 MURMURS: New sheriff, same troubling tune.

11

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When TriMet decided to cut its budget this year, the scalpel slashed both bus frequency and free bus rides in Fareless Square.

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17: Wait times in minutes, starting Nov. 29. Occasionally, waits will be as long as 20 minutes.

2010: The year Fareless Square goes away for bus riders.

TriMet spokeswoman Bekki Witt notes that Fareless Square remains for rail riders (see photo above) and that eliminating it this January for buses will relieve a huge fare-checking burden for bus drivers.

31: Millions of dollars projected to be saved by eliminating Fareless Square.

52.6: Percent of riders in TriMet outreach surveys who say they support the rail-only options for Fareless Square, which will be renamed Free Rail Zone.

11/18: The date the Transit Riders Union plan to rally at the STORE HOURS:

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WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

Portland Business Alliance to protest loss of Fareless Square for bus riders. (9 am, 200 SW Market St.)

12/9: The group also plans to protest on this date in City Council Chambers at 9:30 am.

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NEWS

FIRE DRILLED AFTER THE BLAZE AT MARYSVILLE SCHOOL, A RETIRED INSPECTOR SOUNDS THE ALARM.

BY BE T H S LOV I C

bslovic@wweek.com

A Portland Public Schools employee who worked with the district’s fire detection systems for almost two decades says he recently retired in frustration because the district was sending children to schools he couldn’t certify were safe.

The ex-employee, Patrick Silver, calls the fire that ripped through Marysville K-8 School last week a “we told you so” moment—and a warning to the district that its process for inspecting schools’ early-warning systems is woefully inadequate.

“It’s a loaded gun ready to go off,” Silver says.

Silver worked at PPS for 21 years, most recently as an assistant foreman in the district’s maintenance department. He retired Sept. 1, saying PPS administrators prevented maintenance workers from documenting potential fire hazards in some of the district’s 85 schools.

“The day I retired I told them that’s the reason I’m retiring,” says Silver, 58. “I told them they were going to get people killed.”

The kindling fueling Silver’s anger includes a backlog of inspections that need to be done at schools, a previous disagreement with the Portland Fire Marshal’s Office over the type of inspections the district should perform, chronic under-funding of the district’s maintenance department, and a stock of aging school buildings.

As of Nov. 17, fire investigators were still exploring the cause of the Marysville blaze, which was first detected in the school’s east wing and engulfed a part of the roof. The fire caused $4 million in damage, $1 million of which PPS is responsible for, after insurance. Meantime, students have been relocated to the formerly mothballed Rose City Park Elementary School, five miles north of Marysville.

One thing is for certain. PPS is 60 days behind schedule on its school inspections, according to the district.

But this delay comes after PPS reached an agreement with the Portland Fire Marshal’s Office in late 2008 that the disTHREE ALARMS: No one was hurt in the fire at Marysville K-8 School on Nov. 10. trict would perform more thorough inspections. Marysville got a less thorough inspection, its last, on April 30, 2008.

(That’s why Marysville has no sprinkler system.) for the first four weeks of school and monthly thereafter.

The Boston-based National Fire Protection AssociaComplying with older safety codes that are less rigor- Amid budget cuts, the district has had to make tough tion, which sets fire-prevention standards, spells out an ous is perfectly legal. But Silver considered it problematic choices. Eli Triplett, the foreman of the electronics diviexhaustive method for documenting safety deficiencies “morally.” “They won’t spend the money to find out how big sion in the maintenance department and Silver’s old boss, in public buildings. of a problem they’ve got,” he says. says Silver’s criticisms are well-founded. In 1997, Triplett In 2007, when Bryan Winchester became the PortAlthough PPS employees conduct the tests of schools’ says, his crew had 28 people. Today it has 10. But there are land school district’s facilities manager, early-warning systems, the fire marshal no easy answers when the emphasis inside the district is the district wasn’t using this exhaustive FACT: For months, the district is the local authority responsible for on maintaining class size and teaching jobs, Triplett says. method—called NFPA-72—in consul- has been laying the groundwork enforcing inspections and checking “Do I need two more guys at the expense of two teachtation with the Fire Marshal’s Office. to ask voters for a $1 billion schools for violations like blocked exits. ers?” he asks. “We’re all competing for the same money.” construction bond issue in 2010.

(Winchester left the district in August.)

This year, in consultation with the With fewer people, the district has reprioritized. The Public records from March to Staffers like Silver wanted to con- June 2009 show numerous life fire marshal’s office again, the district 10 people on Triplett’s team, including him, are assigned and safety violations at various duct thorough inspections at all schools changed its approach to monitoring exclusively to testing and fixing fire alarm systems. That annually. But given the number of schools. (See wweek.com/fire for schools’ fire alarms. PPS now hopes has allowed the team to dig out of a years-long backlog to a list of code violations.) workers in the maintenance departfor the first time to conduct NFPA-72 the present 60-day backlog. Triplett calls it an “unprecment, the catch-up process would have inspections at every school in every edented effort” but admits it still falls short of what people taken more than two years. Winchester wanted inspec- year. The district remains behind schedule, but says that like Silver want. The fire marshal is satisfied. tions done within a year, Silver says. it’s improving. “This is what the fire marshal says we “It’s uncomfortable for me that I’m not caught up,” Until October 2008, the fire marshal said the NFPA- should do,” says Tony Magliano, the facilities manager Triplett says. “But it’s not anything I can control. I’m doing 72 wasn’t even necessary. Most PPS buildings are so old who replaced Winchester in August. the best I can with the resources I have. I’m under presthey’re governed by codes far less strict than modern ones.

On top of that, students perform fire drills once a week sure to catch up, but I’m in a hole.”

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

7

COURTS AND CANNABIS

COURTESY OF ZIPPORAH FOSTER

MAKING IT RAIN OREGON’S MOST LITIGIOUS STRIPPER IS OUT TO REFORM THE INDUSTRY.

BY JA M E S P I T K I N

DARRYL JAMES

NEWS

CAFE SOCIETY: Madeline Martinez with a vaporizer at last week’s opening of the Cannabis Cafe.

jpitkin@wweek.com

CHRONIC DEBATE

Zipporah Foster isn’t finished yet.

The 28-year-old exotic dancer from Gresham is filing lawsuits against Portland-area strip joints faster than a drunk can throw singles. Foster is already suing three clubs where she’s worked (see “Strip Fees,” WW, July 1, 2009). Next up is Shimmers, a Southeast Portland dive she plans to sue as early as this month.

The suits, all filed since June, allege Foster should have been paid the state’s minimum wage of $8.40 an hour for her time at the pole. Instead, most strippers nationwide dance for tips only. On top of that, they’re often expected to pay the club a “stage fee” for each shift—and tip out the bar staff.

Foster, who goes by the stage name “Mocha,” insists strippers deserve to be paid like any other worker. She and other dancers around the country are beginning to take a stand, and a handful have successfully sued for back wages.

“A lot of dancers, because they [club owners] try to make you feel low about what you’re doing, they [dancers] don’t have knowledge that this is wrong,” says Foster, a single mom who grew up in Sacramento.

Foster’s litigious streak cuts to the heart of the industry’s RAINMAKER: Zipporah Foster. economic model, which does not compensate its most valuable and visible workers. Portland’s exotic clubs, like their

By Foster’s account, Shimmers was a different story. At the counterparts nationwide, classify dancers as independent working-class club on Southeast Foster Road, Foster says she contractors instead of employees. was charged a $10 stage fee and faced hostile bosses. Foster But as dancers have noted, they can be fired for failing to says she was fired last month for going home early, after a show up for a shift or leaving early. They’re also often tightly manager learned she was suing other clubs. controlled—down to the schedule they work, So far, Foster is suing Exotica Internathe time they spend onstage, the music they tional Club for Men in Northeast Portland, FACT: Shimmers, then known dance to and the amount they charge for a the Safari Showclub in Southeast Portland, as Tommy’s III, was the site of a murder when Earl Richard lap dance. and Stars Cabaret & Steakhouse in BeaBarker was shot dead outside What sets Foster apart—and gives her the verton, seeking a total of $165,500 in back the door on Aug. 23, 2008. insouciance to sue—is that she doesn’t fear wages and lost stage fees. None of the clubs Barker was at the club visiting retaliation. After 10 years in the business, she has settled, and the Exotica suit is now set a dancer named Cinnamon.

The crime is still unsolved. wants out, perhaps to become a psychologist for trial in February. or a backup singer.

Shimmers owner Tom Webb says he charges “It’s hard just to start all over,” Foster says. “I’m looking a stage fee only if dancers leave early or skip a shift—a claim for a backup plan, but right now I’m a dancer.”

Foster disputes. He says Foster and a fellow dancer who plans to She currently works five nights a week at Doc’s Club 82 join her lawsuit against Shimmers were fired for poor attitude. on Southeast 82nd Avenue. Foster says her situation there is “They’re just out to try to make some money,” Webb says. better than at prior clubs.

“They’re gonna wind up losing, and they won’t be able to Since WW wrote about her first lawsuit last summer, dance anywhere in Portland.”

Foster says a handful of Portland clubs, including Doc’s, have Foster says she wouldn’t miss the work. stopped charging stage fees and started treating their danc“I love to dance,” she says. “I love doing pole tricks. But I ers with more respect. don’t like all the power trips.”

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Oregon’s new cannabis cafe resembles most any other coffee shop in Portland.

A glimpse at the cafe when it opened Nov. 13 at 700 NE Dekum St. inside Rumpspankers (which voluntarily surrendered its liquor license to avoid conflict with the OLCC) reveals hanging white paper lanterns and scattered secondhand furniture amid red walls. Glass jars brim with green herb, ripe fruit, fluffy scones and large cookies. The jars perch behind vaporizers on a countertop.

Only the drawn beige curtains would suggest something private is taking place inside.

But the premise of the cafe run by the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws—charging a $25 monthly fee—troubles some in the state’s medical marijuana community.

“I don’t see how people running it will make sure everything stays above board,” says Jerry Wade, secretary of the pro-medical marijuana Stormy Ray Foundation.

“I think it is dead wrong, endangering medicine for very sick, very needy people for a few people who want to make a buck,” Wade says. “We’re providing an incredible market for the black market.”

Executive director Madeline Martinez of Oregon NORML rejects such concerns. Martinez notes that cafe patrons—all cardholders of Oregon NORML and the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program—are “a community” that will get help with marijuana vaporization, and receive seminars and classes.

“We’re not lepers,” Martinez says.

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9

rogue of the week bureau of transportation

transportation

the back of the bus

C O U R T E S Y O F T r i M et

news

one more mouth to feed.

Why TriMet is carrying Anti-Fred Meyer Ads. njaquiss@wweek.com

A Spokane union angry at Fred Meyer can thank endangered Klamath River salmon for the opportunity to take its case to Portland commuters.

That may be a lot of geography for what is a story about Oregon’s expansive free speech “Just wrong”: Union workers say Fred Meyer threw them under the bus. protections and what can be advertised on TriMet buses. But a 2008 court ruling opened the window for of the Oregon Zoo bond measure bought space. Currently, advertising just such as that paid for by the United Food and TriMet is carrying ads for a seasonal Widmer beer—which Witt says it would not have done before because the ban on Commercial Workers Local 1439.

The Spokane-based local, which represents grocery work- political speech extended to alcohol and tobacco advertising. ers in Eastern Washington, came to TriMet in mid-October And it’s carrying a paid message promoting “nontheism” from looking to buy ads. Lamar Advertising, TriMet’s ad-selling the Portland Coalition of Reason. company, sold space on 17 buses and 12 benches for UFCW to UFCW Local 1439’s issue at the bargaining table with run bright red signs reading, “Fred Meyer Firing Workers For Fred Meyer is the company’s discipline of cashiers who make One Honest Mistake Is Just Wrong.” The campaign started errors. UFCW Local 367, based in Tacoma, has provided the strongest illustration of that issue, filing grievances that allege Sept. 17 and is scheduled to run through Jan. 6.

The anti-Freddy’s ads are more pointed than the typical the grocery giant fired two cashiers for what the union says bus message. Normally, those spots promote businesses, TV were first-time mistakes that cost less than $40 in total. shows or nonprofits.

Even though the labor dispute is in Washington, left-leaning Other groups seeking to move political messages have Portland was a natural forum for the UFCW’s pro-labor camcome to TriMet before. In 2001, for instance, the Metro- paign. (UFCW Local 555 President Dan Clay says his Oregon politan Home Builders Association tried to buy pro-devel- local is uninvolved in this campaign.) Cincinnati-based Kroger, opment ads urging expansion of the urban growth boundary. which bought Freddy’s in 1999, employs 30,000 workers and TriMet refused those ads because they were unattributed operates 55 Fred Meyer and QFC stores in Oregon. And Fred Meyer is headquartered in Southeast Portland. and its policy was not to “allow or cause any of its Fred Meyer spokeswoman Melinda Merrill says buses, light-rail vehicles or facilities to become a FACT: UFCW paid TriMet $22,000 for the Spokane local has also run ads in Alaska, Idaho public forum.”

That policy remained until last year when the the ads. and Washington. She says the complaint about unfair firings is best addressed through the grievAmerican Civil Liberties Union of Oregon sued TriMet on behalf of California’s Karuk tribe. The tribe wanted ance procedure. “We’ve always had a policy that negligence to place an ad reading, “Salmon shouldn’t run up your electric in handling cash may lead to termination,” Merrill says.

“Cash needs to go in the cash register.” bill. They should run up the Klamath River.”

In June 2008, Judge Henry Breithaupt ruled that because “To be targeted like this is frustrating,” Merrill adds. “As TriMet is a government agency, its refusal to accept the tribe’s a company, we have kept up with construction projects and political advertising violated the Oregon Constitution. TriMet have not laid workers off.” appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals, where oral argu- Merrill says company officials spoke to TriMet but were told the agency had no choice but to run the ads. ments are scheduled for Nov. 23.

TriMet spokeswoman Bekki Witt says the Karuk decision UFCW Local 1439 President Larry Hall says everybody ought to be able to advertise as long as the speech isn’t hasn’t brought a flood of political advertisers. “[We have] received very few requests that would not have obscene or violent. But his bigger concern is bringing two been approved under our suspended advertising policy and years of contract negotiations to a close.

“We just want them to agree to stop firing workers standards,” Witt says.

Before the November 2008 election, only proponents unjustly,” Hall says.

10

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

W W P h oto I l l ustr a t i o n

By NIG E L JAQ UI SS

Every autumn in Portland, the City Council considers what’s called the “fall bump.”

Also known as the fall budget monitoring process, the bump offers elected leaders and the city’s financial experts the opportunity to recalibrate spending so what’s going out (to bureaus to pay for programs and people) matches what’s coming in (from business license fees and other revenue). In flush years, the city sometimes finds it has more money, making the fall bump a bit like Christmas in November.

In this year’s tough economy, the fall bump is more like a fall lump—as in a lump of coal.

The Portland Police Bureau is being asked to take $283,901 in cuts. Portland Parks & Recreation is facing a $83,112 reduction.

But the Portland Bureau of Transportation, this week’s Rogue, is adding three positions and—most galling—one of those spots is for a second spokesman. If City Council approves this on Nov. 18, PBOT will have the same number of spokespeople as Portland’s police, who face far more demands from local media than bureaucrats in transportation.

Mayor Sam Adams, who manages the transportation bureau, defends the limitedterm position, which will cost the city $69,330 in salary and benefits until June 30, 2010, when the post must be reconsidered as part of the regular budget process. Meantime, Adams says the city needs more “eyes and ears” to tell PBOT where city streets need maintenance.

Eyes and ears to report streets flooded by fall rains? OK. But one more mouth to answer reporters’ questions? The Rogue Desk would prefer PBOT fund its maintenance department rather than a new gig for Dan Anderson, who was Adams’ “public advocate” in PBOT before he announced in June he was quitting for a job with the feds.

After that fell through for unexplained reasons, PBOT created this new spokesman job, which Anderson fills.

NEWS

GOING ROGUE EACH WEEK NOVEMBER 27-29 N O V E M B E R 2 7 ( F R I D AY ) , 1 0 - 6 N O V E M B E R 2 8 ( S AT U R D AY ) , 1 0 - 6 N O V E M B E R 2 9 ( S U N D AY ) , 1 1 - 5 1 5 3 3 N W 2 4 T H AV E N U E ( @ R A L E I G H S T. ) , P O R T L A N D

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Meet the new boss; same as the old boss. When Dan Staton was sworn in as interim Multnomah County Sheriff on Nov. 5, we hoped he would reverse former Sheriff Bob Skipper’s refusal to hand over the names of people who hold concealed handgun licenses. Those records have long been open under the state’s public records law. But Skipper decided to keep them secret, claiming they were exempt from disclosure. As first reported on wweek.com, Staton also is denying WW’s request to release the records, blocking any public oversight of how the sheriff’s office decides who can pack heat.

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The two senior Oregon Zoo employees who stepped down less than a week before a blistering audit (see wweek.com for more) of the zoo’s construction practices were offered severance payments, WW has learned.

Former deputy director Carmen Hannold declined severance. But construction chief Steve Chaney took the offered $3,291, two weeks’ pay.

Angus Duncan, founder and president of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, is in demand these days. He is being considered for a job in the Federal Department of Energy that would put him in place to revamp the nation’s aging transmission grid. If Duncan doesn’t get that top post as assistant secretary for electricity delivery and energy security, he is also considered a leading contender to fill one of two vacancies on Oregon’s Public Utility Commission. “I have not talked to the governor’s office about the PUC,” Duncan says.

“But the governor and our two senators have been very supportive” for the federal job.

Charles Hopson, deputy superintendent with Portland Public Schools, is one of three semi-finalists for a job as the superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools in Minnesota.

Hopson, 51, was principal of Franklin High School in Southeast Portland before his promotion in 2008 to the district’s central office. He was one of six candidates announced last week in the Minnesota district of 38,500 students. This week, the field was narrowed to three.

LEAHNASH.COM

Portland’s Planning Commission is adding a new wrinkle to the ongoing dispute surrounding Portland Public Schools’ K-8s. Last week, the planning commission voted tentatively to require that PPS conduct “conditional use” reviews when any elementary or middle school converts to a K-8. The proposed change is a response to dozens of zoning code violations filed against PPS by neighborhood activists. If City Council OK’s the change, it would require retroactive reviews of K-8 reconfigurations that started in 2004. The upshot? Schools that added grades may need to add transportation infrastructure and other safety features.

CHARLES HOPSON

WW’s Give!Guide had collected more than $50,000 less than one week into our annual fundraiser for 79 incredible nonprofits. But we’re hoping you can find it in your heart to donate throughout the holidays. We’ll even reward you with a bunch of incentives. Please go to wweek.com to see what goodies you can get for contributing and how you can give through Dec. 31.

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randyland, part ii WW examines whether Randy Leonard is using his power to benefit downtown’s largest private property owner.

By Nig e l Jaq ui ss

njaquiss@wweek.com

Editor’s note: Last week, in the first part of “Randyland,” WW reported that third-term City Commissioner Randy Leonard faces multiple personal challenges: He’s going through a divorce, his daughter is in jail, and he recently faced an investigation from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. In his professional life, however, Leonard has become the city’s most powerful politician— the de facto mayor. This week, in the second part, we look at how he exercises that power and whether in doing so he is benefiting an influential ally.

No politician in Portland swings a bigger club than Randy Leonard.

To appreciate the city commissioner’s clout, consider a vacant lot in Chinatown. For more than two decades, Cindy’s Adult Bookstore occupied the property at Northwest 4th Avenue and West Burnside Street. For much of that time, it was a den of drug dealing and prostitution.

“Cindy’s has historically been a magnet for criminal activity,” says Portland Police Sgt. Matt Engen, who has worked Old Town for 12 years.

In 2007, Leonard’s Housing Interdiction Team—his handpicked squad of inspectors and officers from the Police and Fire bureaus and the Bureau of Development Services—targeted Cindy’s. The so-called HIT squad found dozens of code violations. In November 2007, the The targeter: Commissioner Randy Leonard’s HIT squad operates without City Council oversight. team forced Cindy’s to close.

In July 2008, Cindy’s owners razed the building and Since 2003, Leonard’s HIT crew has targeted several ment,” says Randal Acker, a lawyer for Cindy’s owners. listed the lot for sale. Today, where Cindy’s once stood, other buildings, including the single-room occupancy “The issue is whether they [the HIT] are following up only a sign remains.

Grove Hotel at 421 W Burnside St., where on all complaints in the same way,” says Andrea Meyer, On Nov. 17, the owners of “Stop Randy Leonard’s Hit Squad,” 70 residents once lived in squalor. legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union the now-defunct Cindy’s reads the sign, paid for by Cindy’s own The HIT operates without City Council of Oregon. “They should have criteria, and the criteria Adult Bookstore filed suit ers, Michael Wright and Daniel Cossette. oversight or any written procedures for should be public and neutral so everybody is getting the in Multnomah County court against Commssioner Randy “Stop Randy’s use of city bureaus for his choosing targets. Leonard says that setup is same due process.”

Leonard, the members personal gain and agendas.” intentional.

Leonard’s team has unquestionably performed a valuof the HIT squad and the Leonard says the message is sour “Where bureaus have rules, they have to able public service by ending predatory practices at downCity of Portland, alleging “arbitrary” code enforcegrapes and that his only agenda is making follow the letter of those rules,” he explains. town single-room occupancy hotels. ment and seeking $950,000 Portland safer. “[What] my experience has taught is the But with Mayor Sam Adams weakened by scandal and in damages. See wweek.com “[The] sign does not dissuade me more you fall into matrixes and following other council colleagues slow to rein Leonard in, the forfor a copy of the lawsuit. from doing the right thing. The guy that rules, [that] is where you get into trouble.” mer firefighter enjoys a degree of unchecked power without owned Cindy’s [Michael Wright] is the same guy that put Some people lionize Leonard for unleashing the HIT. recent precedent. Even Leonard calls HIT “an unstoppable up the sign.

“What he did to clean up the SRO hotels was tremendous,” force.” The question is whether Leonard is using that force “He is a convicted murderer,” Leonard adds, referring says Howard Weiner, an Old Town neighborhood leader. to pursue the public’s agenda—or someone else’s. to a 1971 conviction. But HIT’s targets are broader than Others worry Leonard can target anyone he pleases. cont. on page 14 somebody with a criminal past.

“The HIT team acts without oversight or public involveWillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

13

C H R I S R YA N P H O T O . C O M

RANDYLAND, PART II WW EXAMINES WHETHER RANDY LEONARD IS USING HIS POWER TO BENEFIT DOWNTOWN’S LARGEST PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNER.

BY NIG E L JAQ UI SS

njaquiss@wweek.com

Editor’s note: Last week, in the first part of “Randyland,” WW reported that third-term City Commissioner Randy Leonard faces multiple personal challenges: He’s going through a divorce, his daughter is in jail, and he recently faced an investigation from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. In his professional life, however, Leonard has become the city’s most powerful politician— the de facto mayor. This week, in the second part, we look at how he exercises that power and whether in doing so he is benefiting an influential ally.

No politician in Portland swings a bigger club than Randy Leonard.

To appreciate the city commissioner’s clout, consider a vacant lot in Chinatown. For more than two decades, Cindy’s Adult Bookstore occupied the property at Northwest 4th Avenue and West Burnside Street. For much of that time, it was a den of drug dealing and prostitution.

“Cindy’s has historically been a magnet for criminal activity,” says Portland Police Sgt. Matt Engen, who has worked Old Town for 12 years.

In 2007, Leonard’s Housing Interdiction Team—his handpicked squad of inspectors and officers from the Police and Fire bureaus and the Bureau of Development Services—targeted Cindy’s. The so-called HIT squad found dozens of code violations. In November 2007, the THE TARGETER: Commissioner Randy Leonard’s HIT squad operates without City Council oversight. team forced Cindy’s to close.

In July 2008, Cindy’s owners razed the building and Since 2003, Leonard’s HIT crew has targeted several ment,” says Randal Acker, a lawyer for Cindy’s owners. listed the lot for sale. Today, where Cindy’s once stood, other buildings, including the single-room occupancy “The issue is whether they [the HIT] are following up only a sign remains.

Grove Hotel at 421 W Burnside St., where on all complaints in the same way,” says Andrea Meyer, On Nov. 17, the owners of “Stop Randy Leonard’s Hit Squad,” 70 residents once lived in squalor. legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union the now-defunct Cindy’s reads the sign, paid for by Cindy’s ownThe HIT operates without City Council of Oregon. “They should have criteria, and the criteria Adult Bookstore filed suit ers, Michael Wright and Daniel Cossette. oversight or any written procedures for should be public and neutral so everybody is getting the in Multnomah County court against Commssioner Randy “Stop Randy’s use of city bureaus for his choosing targets. Leonard says that setup is same due process.”

Leonard, the members personal gain and agendas.” intentional.

Leonard’s team has unquestionably performed a valuof the HIT squad and the Leonard says the message is sour “Where bureaus have rules, they have to able public service by ending predatory practices at downCity of Portland, alleging “arbitrary” code enforcegrapes and that his only agenda is making follow the letter of those rules,” he explains. town single-room occupancy hotels. ment and seeking $950,000 Portland safer. “[What] my experience has taught is the But with Mayor Sam Adams weakened by scandal and in damages. see wweek.com “[The] sign does not dissuade me more you fall into matrixes and following other council colleagues slow to rein Leonard in, the forfor a copy of the lawsuit from doing the right thing. The guy that rules, [that] is where you get into trouble.” mer firefighter enjoys a degree of unchecked power without owned Cindy’s [Michael Wright] is the same guy that put Some people lionize Leonard for unleashing the HIT. recent precedent. Even Leonard calls HIT “an unstoppable up the sign.

“What he did to clean up the SRO hotels was tremendous,” force.” The question is whether Leonard is using that force “He is a convicted murderer,” Leonard adds, referring says Howard Weiner, an Old Town neighborhood leader. to pursue the public’s agenda—or someone else’s. to a 1971 conviction. But HIT’s targets are broader than Others worry Leonard can target anyone he pleases.

CONT. on page 14 somebody with a criminal past.

“The HIT team acts without oversight or public involveWillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

13

PART II CONT. C H R I S R YA N P H O T O . C O M

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In its six years, Leonard’s HIT has been busy.

It targeted the Westport Villa in Northwest Portland; three single-room occupancy hotels in Old Town, including the Grove; Cindy’s Adult Bookstore; the Greek Cusina and an eastside after-hours club called the Mansion, which was shut down and demolished.

The team operates with just a handful of members, including two police officers and a retired police commander.

In its zeal, the HIT reflects its creator. Leonard, 57, is bold, plainspoken and a man of action.

At the same time, impetuous decisions, a wobbly ethical compass and allegations of cronyism have marked his political career.

And in a process-driven city where even routine land-use decisions require multiple hearings, it’s been a long time since a public official exercised the power Leonard wields as he targets properties.

Jim Moore, a Pacific University political

Papas, who is negotiating with the city and his bank, acknowledges blame but says Leonard ignored his efforts to make improvements.

“He’s got one goal: to drive me out of business,” Papas says. Leonard says the issue is public safety and nothing more. He calls the Greek Cusina “the city’s most dangerous occupied building.”

While the HIT has a “public” list of targeted properties, two city employees say an “unofficial” list also exists.

The employees, who requested anonymity, told WW that list includes Silverado, the Fish Grotto and the city’s two busiest live-music venues, the Roseland Theater and the Crystal Ballroom.

Emails and interviews with owners show that HIT members scrutinized some of those venues and were actively involved in enforcing codes at others.

On March 13, 2009, Mike Alderman, a HIT fire inspector, wrote Joe Botkin, a HIT building code

“THE ISSUE IS WHETHER HIT IS FOLLOWING UP ON ALL COMPLAINTS IN THE SAME WAY.” —ANDREA MEYER, ACLU

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science professor, says Leonard’s approach recalls the 1950s and ’60s, when city officials targeted vice rings and grew accustomed to making important decisions without public oversight.

“That’s why we got a public records and open meetings law in the ’70s,” Moore says.

Leonard personally selects all HIT targets.

Before he turns his team loose on a property, he requires team members to explain why it should be singled out. Then he inspects the property himself. He adds that he rejects two targets for every one he OKs. The Greek Cusina restaurant, at 404 SW Washington St., is perhaps Leonard’s highestprofile target.

Like Cindy’s, the Cusina had a history before Leonard got involved. Police and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission have visited regularly. And owner Ted Papas admits that he renovated his building without securing permits.

Over the past two years, Leonard’s HIT cited the Cusina for numerous fire code violations.

In May 2008, the team imposed a 24-hour firewatch that Papas had to pay for, resulting in more than $200,000 in liens. That pushed Papas into foreclosure this fall.

inspector. He suggested scrutinizing Silverado, one of Portland’s oldest gay bars.

“Let’s talk about this one,” Alderman wrote.

Botkin preferred action.

“Why would I want to talk about it?????? Let’s DO something!” Botkin emailed in reply.

Soon, Silverado, which OLCC records show had few previous problems, faced the loss of its liquor license.

“After 25 years, we suddenly became a ‘nuisance,’” says Silverado owner Don Sexton. “But that’s enough to put you out of business.”

Emails also show team members were active at the Roseland. On Jan. 31, 2007, fire inspectors entered during a Wu Tang Clan concert, saying the club was overcrowded.

In four decades of concert production, Roseland owner David Leiken says he’d never experienced what happened next. “Something had changed,” says Leiken. “I called the Fire Bureau and was told, ‘You should talk to Randy Leonard.’”

Leiken did not, and says the situation worsened throughout 2008.

“I had heard about [members of the HIT] CONT. on page 17

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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working to ‘clean up Portland,’” Leiken says.

“And we had several police officers coming in telling us they were going to shut us down. In 17 years of operating the Roseland, I had never been told anything like that.” Leiken says Alderman and then-HIT member Portland Police Officer Jeff Myers were heavily involved. Leiken ultimately reached agreements to improve his sprinkler system and tighten security.

Fish Grotto owner Dan Zilka also describes an unusual situation.

In late 2007, he says, he met with developer Mark Edlen, who was building the Indigo (see sidebar, page 21), a 22-story apartment tower a block away from Zilka’s restaurant at Southwest 11th Avenue and Stark Street.

“Edlen said my business, Silverado and Scandals needed to be removed from the neighborhood,” Zilka recalls. (Silverado’s Sexton, who subsequently moved his bar from Southwest

Pressed as to how he’s aware the businesses have had problems, Leonard shrugs.

“I don’t even know how I know that,” he says.

Nearly all the properties the team has officially or unofficially targeted have something in common—they’re located near properties owned or managed by downtown’s largest private landowner, City Center Parking (see map, page 19).

If Randy Leonard is the city’s most powerful politician, his private-sector counterpart may be City Center Parking President Greg Goodman.

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say Goodman’s family owns downtown Portland.

Goodman, 52, told WW his family owns the equivalent of 25 city blocks.

“It’s about 1 million square feet, if you push it all together,” Goodman says. Most of City Center’s properties are surface parking lots. The company owns or operates 220 facilities containing 34,000

“RANDY IS A GOOD FRIEND.” —GREG GOODMAN, PRESIDENT OF CITY CENTER PARKING Stark Street to 318 SW 3rd Avenue, recounts a similar conversation with Edlen.)

Within a couple of months of his meeting with Edlen, Zilka began experiencing what he says was “unusual” scrutiny from the OLCC. “It was an interesting coincidence,” Zilka says.

Edlen says it is “not true” that he wanted gay clubs gone. “We embrace diversity, but we don’t want dilapidated buildings,” Edlen says.

While no one on the HIT officially represents the OLCC, the connection between the two agencies is the city’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

Since 2004, the office has regulated all city liquor licenses and works closely with the OLCC. Emails requested by WW under public records law show ONI was in contact with HIT members about Silverado, Roseland and the Greek Cusina.

(The Crystal Ballroom currently faces the loss of its liquor license as well.)

Leonard says the Roseland, the Crystal Ballroom, the Fish Grotto and Silverado were never on the HIT’s official list, but acknowledges each may have been under the microscope.

“Each has had specific problems that could get them on the list,” he says.

parking spaces. City Center is four times the size of its largest competitor in town, Star Park, and says it generated gross revenues of $65 million in 2008.

Goodman’s father, Doug, started the company in 1955. Whereas Doug focused on buying land cheaply, Greg (whose younger brother, Mark, serves as City Center’s vice president ) has concentrated on civic engagement, politics and, lately, development.

Greg Goodman serves on the boards of the Citizens’ Crime Commission and the Portland Business Alliance, both of which have a strong focus on cleaning up downtown. More than other large-property owners, Goodman has sought to shape the policies that affect downtown.

“The Goodmans have a great deal of influence,” says Debbie Aiona of the League of Women Voters.

And without a doubt, Greg Goodman’s closest friend on the City Council is Randy Leonard.

Outwardly, Goodman and Leonard share little in common.

Leonard, a Democrat, is a former union president who grew up poor and clings to his bluecollar roots. Goodman, a lifelong Republican until

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RANDYLAND

PART II CONT.

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May, when he registered as “non-affiliated,” is a non-union employer, and lives on a $3.4 million West Hills estate with his wife, Susan Schnitzer, a member of the wealthy Schnitzer family.

Despite such differences, Leonard’s schedule shows he and Goodman have met at least nine times in the past 16 months, usually for meals.

That’s more than Goodman has met with the four other City Council members combined during that period and more than twice as often as Leonard met with police and fire union presidents.

Leonard acknowledges he and Goodman make an odd pair.

“I’d think he would hate my guts,” Leonard says. “But he’s one of the funniest, nicest people I’ve ever known.”

Goodman says he feels the same way.

“Randy is a good friend,” says Goodman, who donated $2,500 to Leonard’s 2008 re-election campaign.

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At City Hall, Goodman engaged in two major efforts to rezone sections of downtown.

In 2002, before Leonard joined the City Council, Goodman persuaded the city to rezone the West End, a section of Southwest Portland bounded by Park Avenue, Burnside and I-405. The rezoning expanded allowable uses and height limits, increasing the value of Goodman holdings.

In 2008, Goodman persuaded the Portland Planning

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15,000,000 for the light rail, etc. These are assessments that nobody else in the greater Portland area volunteers to assess themselves for,” Goodman wrote.

“I ask myself, ‘What for if we can’t get council to take a STRONG action to protect our streets[?]’ We either need your support in coming up with a strong solution or, in one person’s opinion, we should minimize or eliminate our voluntary assessments.”

Normally, the hot-tempered Leonard reacts to such a challenge like a shark hitting bait, but not this time.

“Greg, not only are you not a complainer, you are consistently proactive and focused on how to solve problems,” Leonard wrote in response.

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Commission to raise the building height limit in Old Town-Chinatown from 75 feet to 130 feet on six “opportunity sites,” including two Goodman lots.

“Greg was the driving force to raise the height limit,” says Art DeMuro, chairman of the Historic Landmarks Commission. (City Council tabled the issue after preservationists opposed Goodman’s plan.)

A vigorous downtown booster, Goodman is also unsparing in his criticism of City Hall.

“I get very, very frustrated with the politics of this city,” he told WW. “God gave us four aces in this city, and we’ve given two back.”

Goodman is not afraid to throw his weight around, as he did in an August email to Leonard and his colleagues concerning a local improvement district, or LID. “I know I speak for the rest of the retail and downtown business community in saying, we have had it. We assess ourselves, 4,000,000 dollars per year for an LID,

“THE ISSUE IS SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF CITY CODE.” —CHARLOTTE PHILLIPS, FORMER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES EXAMINER Two years ago, Goodman’s company hired Leonard’s younger son, Kyle, for a low-level position. Leonard says he had nothing to do with the hire. Goodman says he was unaware that Kyle worked for him until Randy Leonard mentioned it. Kyle recently left that job.

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It may be just a coincidence that the properties Leonard’s HIT targeted are surrounded by Goodman properties.

Both Goodman and Leonard insist that given the size and location of Goodman’s holdings, there are few downtown properties that don’t fall near Goodman sites.

But there are dangerous properties all over Portland.

And yet, Leonard’s team operates only in the central city, even though he is a tireless booster of both the little guy and the east side.

HA He says that’s because W T the team is complaint-driven B R H Othe and downtown generates I D G R N Emost concerns. But here’s E something curious: Leonard’s bureaus have fielded complaints about prominent Goodman properties both from the public—and city employees—and taken no action.

One example is the numerous complaints that have been lodged over the years against three of Goodman’s lots that are home to food carts. The complaints range from concerns about illegal and unsafe structures to lack of required landscaping.

There have also been complaints about another Goodman-managed lot right across the street from Bureau of Development Services headquarters, where Leonard’s code inspectors work.

Charlotte Phillips, a former BDS examiner who was among 160 BDS employees Leonard laid off in October, says she and colleagues questioned why Leonard aggressively pursued HIT targets but ignored code violations on Goodman lots.

“The issue is selective enforcement of city code,” Phillips says. “I and others complained to supervisors about the carts being illegal…but nothing was ever done.”

Leonard says he’s aware of the concern. “The running joke is that planners get upset about the carts [across from Development Services] and then they walk across the street and get a burrito [from a cart] and they are not upset anymore,” he says.

CONT. on page 21 WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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MOOD INDIGO The newest building on Portland’s downtown skyline is the 22-story Indigo at Southwest 12th Avenue and Washington Street, which opened Nov. 5. The Indigo contains groundfloor retail, the headquarters of ZGF Architects, and 277 apartments.

The land is owned by the Goodmans and the building was developed by Gerding Edlen Development. It is exactly the kind of project Greg Goodman envisioned when he pressed for West End rezoning seven years ago.

Last month, Goodman contacted Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Housing Bureau and had proposed using the

nearby city-owned Fairfield Hotel as a temporary winter homeless shelter.

“Speaking selfishly for our ownership group at Twelfth and Washington, we have spent $135,000,000 and are opening 277 apartments in 2 weeks,” Goodman wrote to Fish in an Oct. 8 email. “Needless to say, we are going into a horrific economic headwind and are more than a little concerned.

“Simply put, taking the Fairfield retail space at 11th and Stark and putting 70 beds in would be very detrimental to the area at a time when the area’s underbelly is extremely vulnerable.”

Fish soon found an alternative site for the shelter in Northeast Portland. He says Goodman’s pushback “played no part” in the switch. —NJ

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Another Leonard-managed bureau recently sought to address safety concerns about propane tanks and haphazard wiring around the carts on Goodman lots. (A cart across from BDS caught fire in August.)

“Fire [officials] came into my office a couple of months ago and wanted to crack down,” Leonard says.

He says he told them to concentrate on more urgent tasks.

“They were pretty upset,” Leonard recalls.

The loudest critic of Leonard’s lax attitude toward food carts on Goodman lots is Greek Cusina owner Ted Papas, who says traditional restaurants face far greater and more expensive regulation.

“These are supposed to be parking lots, but some of them have 17 or 18 permanent food trailers, and who benefits?” Papas asks. “Goodman benefits.”

Goodman, who charges the 50 or 60 carts on his lots about $500 per month each, says he’s never talked to Leonard about carts or the HIT. He says any suggestion Leonard is acting to benefit him is absurd.

“I’ve never asked Randy for a favor,” he says.

Leonard says any allegation he treats City Center differently from other property owners “has no basis in fact.”

Leonard notes that in 2003 he led the charge to award the contract to manage the City’s Smart Park garages to Star Park, a City Center competitor. More recently, he says, he told Goodman not to bother requesting a tax abatement for one of his buildings.

In the past couple of years, City Council has spent lots of time debating everything from Major League Soccer to which street to rename in honor of César Chávez.

There’s been little debate, however, whether the HIT is an appropriate use of the city’s power.

In February, six years after the HIT began operations, Leonard asked his colleagues to approve a resolution recognizing the concept, but there was little discussion.

Today, two commissioners, Dan Saltzman and Amanda Fritz, say they want greater oversight.

“I continue to believe that the council should hold a public hearing to discuss and formally adopt procedures to guide the actions of the code compliance team,” says Fritz.

Saltzman says the current arrangement “does not provide an appropriate level of transparency and accountability.”

(Commissioner Nick Fish says he does not have enough information to make a judgment; Mayor Adams did not respond to WW’s questions.)

Even fans of HIT are uneasy.

Howard Weiner has worked as hard as anybody to clean up Old Town, and nobody was happier when the HIT targeted flophouses there.

But, like Saltzman and Fritz, Weiner wants greater accountability.

“There should be clear and transparent regulations for how the HIT operates,” Weiner says.

“I don’t believe in selective enforcement.”

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GOSSIP SHOULD HAVE NO FRIENDS TOOTH SCARY: Klan Kilgore needs your vote for new choppers. A national “My Smile Bites” contest for a $30,000 dental makeover sponsored by 1-800-Dentist comes as a cavity-free beacon of hope for the 41-year-old Portlander, whose teeth have been degenerating since his late 20s. “In the last 10 years, bits of teeth [fell] out of my mouth,” says Kilgore, a former musician whose non-unionized job as a carpenter doesn’t offer health care. “I’ve gone through the process of flirting with women, and it’s almost like you see the blood drain out of their face when I open my mouth…. I’ve become a hermit because of it.” What would he do if he won the makeover?

“Jump for joy,” he says. “Then flirt with a woman. I haven’t kissed a woman in over five years.” Votes for Kilgore can be cast online at 1800dentist. com/my-smile-bites/klan-kKLAN KILGORE portland-or-dentist-fall09.

RESTLESS HOPPER: What is Gus Van Sant up to, anyway?

WW intern Ali Rothschild found out this past weekend at a big, old house in Laurelhurst, where she snagged a job as an extra in the director’s new doomed-teens-in-love movie. (It used to be called Restless, but now goes by the far more exciting tag Untitled Gus Van Sant Project.) Turns out the lead couple is portrayed by Mia Wasikowska (the lead in Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland) and Henry Hopper, son of Dennis Hopper. The shoot included 100 local extras who were dressed in elaborate costumes for a party. The extras, including our kinda-undercover reporter, were corralled at the Unity Church of Portland before being taken to the home a few blocks away. There, Van Sant and his production team shot from 7 pm Saturday to 1 am Sunday, the crew using everything from fog machines and strobe lights to one manly extra who stripped to the waist despite the bitter cold.

BALDWIN WATCH, PART 3: Remember the Great Daniel Baldwin Experiment, in which the most obscure of the four Baldwin brothers would work with Sam Adams to launch a Portland-based movie- and reality-TV studio? Neither did we.

But he has remembered. Daniel Baldwin flew into PDX again on Monday night, promising to give the city…well, something.

“MOVIES IN PORTLAND !!!!,” he wrote Sunday on his Twitter feed (twitter.com/BALDWINDANIEL). “Imagine the trucks stopping on there [sic] way to Canada, only to dump all of that business into Portland.” His flight apparently landed safely: “To all my Ninja’s in P Town,” he tweeted Monday. “General Zod has arrived.” The general noted that he is in the market for a Lake Oswego four-bedroom home and would appreciate leads.

XMAS CAROL: Want to go to the Portland Cello Project’s Holiday Spectacular at the Aladdin Theater on Dec. 4, but can’t afford $13 for a ticket?

Kevin and Anita Robinson of Viva Voce are on the bill, and the couple is giving away five spots on its guest list. Email therobinsonsmusic@gmail.com (put “Cello show Dec. 4” in the subject field) with a good reason why you should bust out your favorite Xmas sweater and join the rocking cellos.

CULTURE LESTER BROWN TOM MARTINEZ

WHY THIS PROMINENT ENVIRONMENTALIST THINKS THE COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE IS “PROBABLY OBSOLETE.”

BROWN: “The question is whether civilization as we know it can survive.”

BY H E N RY ST E R N

hstern@wweek.com

Next month’s global climate conference in Copenhagen does not lack for dire warnings from environmentalists about what failure would mean for the world.

For example, Bill McKibben (“Q&A,” WW, Oct. 11, 2006) writes in the latest issue of Mother Jones that, “In fact, you could make a fair argument that this will be the most important diplomatic gathering in the world’s history.”

Lester Brown, the 75-year-old founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., shares the belief that we face imminent cataclysmic changes from global warming.But Brown doesn’t put much faith in Copenhagen.

Brown believes the dramatic change required by global climate shifts already appears to be at a tipping point in the world and in the United States.

Here’s what else Brown had to say when he stopped by WW last week while in town at the invitation of Illahee, a forum for environmental innovators.

WW: Is there any reason for optimism that Copenhagen will generate a meaningful treaty?

Lester Brown: Someone has said if it’s a total bust, it might actually serve a useful purpose.

The worst-case scenario is it will accomplish a little bit but not nearly enough and create the impression that we’ve got things under control. The same is true for the legislation in Washington. The worst thing is we won’t get very much but it creates the illusion that we’ve accomplished something. In this country, I think we’re moving toward a tipping point on the climate and energy front. What we’re seeing in the last two years is remarkable. It’s quite possible we will never license another coal plant in this country. And now that we have a de facto moratorium, 22 coal-fired plants [out of 614] are scheduled to close. In the last two years, coal use in this country has dropped 11 percent. That’s huge. At the same time we have brought online 190 new wind farms. Probably the larger share of that is the recession. But another share comes from gains in energy efficiency and shifting from coal to wind farms or natural gas.

Isn’t the United States much more likely to require the equivalent of a “Pearl Harbor” to make dramatic energy shifts?

It may. But we’ve seen some interesting changes now. As we become more urbanized, the attitude of young people is changing. For my generation growing up in southern New Jersey, a car or a pickup truck was a rite of passage. I was in São Paolo a few weeks ago and I was trying to imagine a couple of kids driving around São Paolo for fun. It doesn’t work. The car is no longer the focal point of socialization.

Now it’s the Internet and cell phones.

Don’t kids in Beijing want cars?

In Beijing, maybe. But not in Tokyo. They’ve been there. No one would want a car in Tokyo.

You can’t buy a car unless you have a parking place. It’s sort of becoming irrelevant for young people in Tokyo. Car sales in Japan have actually been declining for 20 years...I was in Beijing doing a seminar for graduate students and one of the students said, “Are you saying we can’t have cars like you do? This is our dream.” I said, “It may be your dream, but if you succeed in getting three cars for every four people, as we have, it will be your nightmare.”

What’s your educated guess about what will come out of Copenhagen?

My own sense is that internationally negotiated climate agreements are probably obsolete and we haven’t realized it yet. They’re obsolete for two reasons. One, by their nature they lead to minimalist agreements. No delegation wants to come back appearing to have conceded more than anyone else. Second, it takes years to negotiate them and years to ratify them. By that time, the game may be over. What I think is going to happen is that you’re going to see a lot of unilateral developments that are going to make a huge difference. I mentioned the movement to ban and now to close coal-fired plants in the U.S. Or China with its explosion in wind energy. The big one is a consortium of European companies.

And its purpose is to devise a strategy to harness the solar-thermal resources of North Africa to provide electricity for Europe and for North Africa, too. That could be half Europe’s electricity. We’ve never seen anything like this before.

There’s no government in this consortium, and they’re doing it for economic reasons.

So is Copenhagen a waste of time?

We need to go and push as hard as we can. But I don’t think we should count on it to save civilization. And that’s what’s really at stake now. The planet is going to be around for some time. The question is whether civilization as we know it can survive.

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CHEAPSKATE

THE BEST CHEAP AND FREE DEALS IN TOWN

By WW STAFF f ART FOR THE MASSES: Homeschool Affordable Art, an online art shop run by locals Jess Hirsch and Jacqueline Mention, hosts a public, real-world show and sale this Thursday. On offer: original works by a dozen artists priced from $5-$150. The Cleaners at Ace Hotel, 430 SW 10th Ave., homeschoolartshop.com. 6-10 pm Thursday, Nov. 19. Free. fPOP OUT: With the six-piece Future Historians, Dave Shur churns out soothing daydreams on his guitar that combine modern pop conventions with an ear for rustic Americana without overreaching into either. He isn’t afraid to defy conventional song structure, or let his inner goofball run rampant, even if his meditations get heavy. Valentine’s, 232 SW Ankeny St., 248-1600, valentineslifeblood. blogspot.com. 9 pm Monday, Nov. 23. Free. 21+. f OPEN UP: Georgia Carr is teaching a free Yin yoga class (“a quiet practice based on passively held floor poses that open the hips and spine”) on Mondays at Stumptown Yoga through the end of the year. 3235 SE 39th Ave., 453-2343, stumptownyoga. com. 7-8 pm Mondays through Dec. 31. f I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW: Optical Brokers is celebrating its 30th year of business with a sale, offering a good selection of frames for $30 apiece with lens orders through the end of November. 134 NW 21st Ave., 295-6488. f NAAN SO SPENDY: East India Company, the excellent North Indian restaurant across the street from Central Library, now offers a $20 seven-course prix fixe dinner nightly from Monday through Saturday. 821 SW 11th Ave., 227-8815, eastindiacopdx.com.

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f BEERVASION: Invasion Cafe offers $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon, $3 wells and $4 wine from 4 to 7 pm Tuesday-Saturday.

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Got a great deal? Email it to us at deals@wweek.com.

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DISH = WW Pick. Highly recommended.

PRICES: $: Most entrees under $10. $$: $10-$20. $$$: $20-$30. $$$$: Above $30.

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WEDNESDAY NOV. 18 Cuisine de la Mer at Carlyle

Like seafood? The Carlyle is hosting a special ocean-centric meal tonight filled with all sorts of rarely seen delicacies. The price of dinner will get you six courses and a wine pairing. KATE WILLIAMS. Carlyle, 1632 NW Thurman St., 595-1782. 6:30 pm. Call 595-1782 for reservations. $90 plus gratuity.

Martinotti Wine Tasting Event

One hundred bucks might seem like a lot to throw out for an evening event, but wait! The Oregon Pinot Noir Club’s tasting will feature at least 100 rare, aged wines from Burgundy, Bourdeaux, Italy, California and Oregon, drawn from the depths of late Portland wine merchant Armand Martinotti’s cellar. You’ll also get to sop up the alcohol with appetizers and charcuterie from Ten 01. This is any wine nerd’s paradise. KW. Ten 01, 1001 NW Couch St., 226-3463. 5:30-9:30 pm. Call 222-1189 for reservations.

Event is open only to the first 100 guests. $100.

ArtsRising Portland Launch and Dinner Potluck

Bring a dish to the Sea Change Gallery and learn about ArtsRising, a new national arts nonprofit. You’ll also get to schmooze with local artists and community organizers, eat free dessert and join ArtsRising for a discounted membership fee of $25. KW. SEA Change, 625 NW Everett St., No. 110., seagallery.wordpress.com. 5-7 pm.

Free with potluck dish or drink.

THURSDAY NOV. 19 New Moon Release Party

Quivering in anticipation for the release of second Twilight saga vampire flick, New Moon? Join other hardcore fans on the eve of its release for a Twilight extravaganza. You’ll feast on eternal love cake and other Twilight-inspired goodies at the View Point Inn (you know, from the prom scene) while watching the first film.

The crowd will then head over to the nearby theater to watch New Moon at midnight. Event attendees will get priority seating in their own theater and a special gift. KW. The View Point Inn, 40301 E Larch Mountain Road, Corbett, 695-5811. 6 pm-2 am. Call 695-5811 for reservations. $58 for dinner, movie and gift.

DJs Against Hunger

Local DJs are pairing up with the Oregon Food Bank this Thursday to collect food and raise money in hopes of improving the holidays of the less fortunate. Bring a couple of non-perishables or a cash donation to Club 915 tomorrow night—you’ll feel good about yourself and you can get down to some sick dance beats. KW. Club 915, 915 SW 2nd Ave. 8 pm-2 am. Call 360-921-8578 for more information.

FRIDAY NOV. 20 Beaujolais Nouveau Festival

Whether or not you enjoy the simplicity and lightness of each year’s Beaujolais Nouveau (for non-wine nerds, Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine fermented for only a few weeks and released every year at the end of November), the harvest celebration at the Heathman is not to be missed.

Sponsored by the French-American Chamber of Commerce and Alliance Française, the event will serve up wines from French producers Georges Dubeouf, Joseph Drouhin and Terres Dorées, as well as WillaKenzie Estate, Pacific Rim Winemakers and Amity Vineyard from Oregon. And a party at the Heathman would not be complete without delicious food created

by award-winning head chef Philippe Boulot. KW. Heathman Hotel, 1001 SW Broadway., 241-4100. 6 pm. Call 2238388 for reservations. $65 in advance. $100 at the door.

SATURDAY NOV. 21 EaT One Year Anniversary Party

Portland’s seriously Cajun oyster bar is turning one this weekend. Come celebrate all day Saturday—there are activities enough for anyone. Hungry?

There’ll be a crab and shrimp boil starting at 6 pm, and oysters are $1 all day long. Thirsty? All tap beers are 2 for $5.

Brave? Enter the gumbo cookoff—the winning stew gets a $100 gift certificate. Smart? There’ll be New Orleans trivia starting at 8 pm. Broke? Dress up like legendary Cajun chef and cookbook author Justin Wilson (just Google him) and you’ll get a special gift. For those lacking creative ambition, there will also be drawings for gift certificates from a ton of awesome restaurants like Pix, Bunk Sandwiches, Beaker and Flask, and Podnah’s Pit. KW. EaT: An Oyster Bar, 3808 N Williams Ave., 281-1222. 11:30 am-midnight Saturday, Nov. 21. Gumbo contest participants must sign up at the restaurant any time before Saturday. Call 281-1222 for more information. $25 a plate for crab and shrimp boil. $1 oysters.

Scratch Bake Sale Benefit

This is not your average PTA bake sale. Gallery Homeland has gathered an impressive roster of local chefs and artists to throw a delicious fundraiser for the nonprofit arts organization. Baked goods, priced between $3 and $5, will include sour cream coffee cake from Chris DiMinno of Clyde Common, cardamom apple pie from Emily Katz, banana bread from Sara Dudzinsky of Better Late than Never and chocolate cake from Colleen French of Renegade. There will also be ice cream, pickles and free hot cider.

You won’t even have to set foot inside a school. KW. Ace Cleaners, 403 SW 10th Ave. 11 am-2 pm. Free admission.

Indie Wine Foundation Tasting Event

Want to serve a new wine with your holiday dinner but don’t know what to pick? Come to a pre-Thanksgiving tasting at the Brookside Inn to taste over a dozen vintages from local vineyards. KW. Brookside Inn, 8243 NE Abbey Road, Carlton, 595-0891. Noon-5 pm Saturday-Sunday. Call 595-0891 for more information. $20.

Olio Nuovo Festa

November’s harvest brings us not only great vegetables and delicious wine, but also mountains of olives. Celebrate the 2009 olive harvest by touring Yamhill County’s only olive oil press.

You’ll get to watch the oil be made, taste some fresh from the press and will get to fill your own bottles of oil by hand. KW. Oregon Olive Mill at Red Ridge, 5700 NE Breyman Orchards Road, 864-2200. 11 am-4 pm SaturdaySunday. Free.

Beaverton Thanksgiving Farmers Market The Beaverton Farmers Market gets ready to make merry with a Thanksgiving supply blowout promising tons of local produce, table arrangements, root veggies, local breads and cookbook author Ivy Manning.

KW. Beaverton Farmers Market, Hall Boulevard between 3rd and 5th streets.

643-5345. 8 am-1:30 pm.

Portland Thanksgiving Farmers Market

Beaverton too far away? The Portland Farmers Market also gets ready to make merry with a Thanksgiving supply blowout promising chanterelles, heirloom squash, wreaths, cheese and pies, plus tips from guest chefs. KW. Portland Farmers Market, South Park Blocks between Southwest Montgomery and Harrison streets. 9 am-2 pm.

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE: Alu is a sure bet for a small-plates dinner.

ALU, TAKE TWO

for the most part three to five plates at Alu make a solid meal for two.

The house-smoked trout ($8) is a plate of delicious, tender, skin-and-tail-on fillets served with a pear mustard and housemade lavasch—a crisp, thin flatbread the width of a lasagna noodle. There’s also

BY LIZ CR A IN dish@wweek.com a smoked salmon plate ($10) with moist portions of the house-smoked fish served with a too-thin aquaAlu is dead, long live Alu. The original Alu, a short- vit crème fraîche and dill lavasch. lived German-centric kitchen on Northeast Martin The recent dish of tender, ruby-red kobe beef Luther King Jr. Boulevard shuttered in February. carpaccio ($12)—lightly drizzled with olive oil and The new Alu, which reopened in July in the same sprinkled with sea salt—was astonishingly good. spot but with new owners Jeff Vejr and Susan It was served with an equally tasty salad of fresh, Killoran, is a wine bar with inspired cocktails and thinly sliced fennel, dark basil buds, broadleaf great sharable plates from former Paley’s Place parsley and slivers of raw king oyster mushroom sous Sean Temple (before his stint at Paley’s, he lightly dressed in vinaigrette.

The fact that Alu does so much from scratch— was one of six in the kitchen at Manhattan’s JeanGeorges when it received its first three Michelin from a house-smoked brisket sandwich with onion marmalade ($9) to stars in 2005). thinly sliced duck breast and Upstairs, Alu looks much Order this: A Salacious martini ($8) with the same as its predecessor— specialty salts and the housemade duck duck gizzard confit ($14) and house pickled veggies ($3)— gold and silver walls, ornate prosciutto ($7) to start. deal: Hard-to-find wines ($6-$12 a is impressive considering chandeliers and an overall Best glass) sourced from 20 wine reps. the kitchen is the size of a posh but inviting look. The I’ll pass: Too-sweet and not-chocolateysmall walk-in closet. “Sean street-level cellar-like space enough chocolate hazelnut terrine ($8) was the only candidate who has been renovated with a with whiskey caramel sauce. didn’t blink an eye at the size cozy fireplace and nicely upholstered antique furniture. There’s also a of the kitchen,” says Alu co-owner Jeff Vejr. “In fact, he really took it as a creative challenge.” newly landscaped back patio with heat lamps.

Alu’s menu, which changes monthly, is on the Another tasty, space-challenged dish is the small side—five pages for wine and cocktails, and panko-and-ground-lemongrass-encrusted one for food. There’s a lot of house-smoked meat scallops ($12) served with a gingery, smoked and seafood, seasonal vegetable dishes, and just orange-and-rosemary jam with a side of citrusy about everything is ideal for sharing. I wouldn’t vinaigrette-dressed greens. call Alu’s dishes small plates—they’re more Look out for new seasonal cocktails soon at Alu, medium plates, price fitting. As for wine, there and—in 2010—a new Sunday brunch. And even are 20-plus choices by the glass with a focus on though Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard isn’t biodynamic, organic and sustainable pours. known for its ample parking (much of the busy Although the menu headings are a little vague arterial lacks parking lanes), Alu thankfully has a and off-putting—e.g., “Easy” for marinated olives few spots right out front. and almonds ($4) or popcorn du jour ($3), “In House Love” for duck prosciutto ($9) and pork EAT: Alu, 2831 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 262-9463. 5-11 pm Monday-Thursday, 5 pmrillettes ($8), or “Indulgence” for desserts ($8)— midnight Friday-Saturday. $$ moderate.

SAME NAME, BETTER GAME.

SUNDAY NOV. 22 Latke Cooking Contest

After hosting one of the best lookalike contests ever (Martha Stewart, anyone?), Krakow is back with a new challenge. If you think you’ve got the chutzpah, head over and put your family’s latke recipe to the test. And while you’re waiting to try the winners, you’ll be entertained by klezmer music by the Hora Tzigane band. Oy vey. KW. Kraków Cafe & Pub, 3990 N Interstate Ave., 954-2200. 1 pm.

MONDAY NOV. 23

TUESDAY NOV. 24

Craft Bitters and Vermouth Tasting Class

Thanksgiving Reunion Market

Learn the nuances of formerly disavowed cocktail ingredients at the Meadow this Monday. Taste a plethora of variations on the mixers, learn how they’re made, and experiment with new cocktail combinations. KW. The Meadow, 3731 N Mississippi Ave., 288-4633. 7-8:30 pm. Purchase tickets at atthemeadow.com. $25.

Still not fully stocked for Thursday’s revelry? Portland Farmers Market is giving you one last chance. It’s holding a “reunion market” at the Eastbank Farmers Market site. Local produce shall abound, but we’re going for the free hot cider. Mmmm. KW. Eastbank Farmers Market, Southeast 20th Avenue and Salmon Street. 241-0032.

1-5 pm.

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

25

Dish

Thanksgiving kim scafuro

thanksgiving for lazy people they roast, baste, bake and clean up this holiday so you don’t have to.

By kat e w i l l i a m s

kwilliams@wweek.com

Thanksgiving—it’s the time of year when we all come together at a table creaking with the weight of pure American gluttony. Spending hours shoving forkful after forkful of turkey and pie into your mouth is fantastic—unless the days and days of cooking have already made you sick of stuffing. Take it easy this year and let a professional do the work for you.

To that end, here’s a list of great lazy-day Thanksgiving helpers, from restaurants serving dinner to food carts selling pie. Or give up completely and let a market like New Seasons (newseasonsmarket.com)or Whole Foods (wholefoodsmarket.com/holidays) take care of cookin’ everything, including the bird and sides—be they vegan or carnivore (see expanded listings on these markets and more at wweek.com/tday09).

RESTAURANTS SERVING THANKSGIVING DINNER Jake’s Thanksgiving Buffet at the Governor Hotel

Yes, you can eat a full Thanksgiving dinner at Jake’s Grill at the Governor Hotel (or Jake’s Famous up the street, or any other of McCormick & Schmick’s Portland outposts). But if you wanna go big, reserve a seat at the local chain’s grand buffet at the hotel. From tom turkey, cedarplank salmon and New York strip steak to whole stations devoted to chilled seafood, salads, side dishes and desserts, this meal’s so big it has to be served in a ballroom. It’s like a wedding where the bride is dinner and you’re the groom (or vice versa).

Visit mccormickandschmicks.com for a list of the chain’s other Portland seafood restaurants, all of which are serving T-Day dinner. Governor Hotel, 614 SW 11th Ave., 224-3400.

Reservations begin at 11:30 am and end at 3:30 pm. $29.95 adults, $7.95 children 6-12, 5 and under free. Call 241-2125 to make your reservation.

Heathman Thanksgiving Dinner

An overwhelming assortment of traditional Northwestern eats, from roasted turkey with sage stuffing and pumpkin cheesecake to bouillabaisse and smoked salmon, for both sit-down eaters and buffet lovers. Prix fixe dining-room service 11 am-9 pm. Holiday buffet 11:30 am-5 pm. The Heathman, 1001 SW Broadway, 790-7752. $39.50 per person ($18 for kids under 12) for prix fixe dining. $46.50 per person ($18 for kids under 12) for the buffet. Call to reserve seats.

Salty’s on the Columbia Thanksgiving

Nothing says “Thanksgiving” like Dungeness crab, prawns and seafood chowder. Get your seafood on with a mega holiday buffet at this riverside classic. Don’t worry— there’ll be turkey and all the trimmings as well. Salty’s on the Columbia, 3839 NE Marine Drive, 288-4444. 10:30 am-5:30 pm. $39.95 per person. Call for reservations.

To-go orders must be placed by Nov. 22. Visit saltys.com for menu.

Thanksgiving “Two Ways” at Urban Farmer

In case you need to stuff yourself twice in one day, the downtown 26

restaurant will be offering its traditional brunch (which includes rich delicacies like wagyu beef brisket hash and fried chicken and waffles) on Thanksgiving morning, followed by a four-course prix fixe, slightly more traditional meal filled with your choice of meat (or mushrooms for the veggie types), salads, sides (from mashed potatoes to giblet gravy) and desserts in the afternoon and evening. Oh, gluttony.

Urban Farmer, 525 SW Morrison St., 222-4900. Brunch 6:30 am-2 pm. Prix fixe meal 2-9 pm. $49 per person ($29 for kids under 12). Call to reserve seats.

Peruvian Thanksgiving at Andina

Have a cross-cultural meal this year.

You can snack on over 30 different tapas plates, Peruvian entrees or their own take on turkey (served with quince-huacatay chutney, corn-pumpkin humita and swiss chard). There’ll also be live music from Nelson Salazar and the Danny Romero Trio. Andina, 1314 NW Glisan. 228-9535. 1-9:30 pm. $55 per person ($27.50 for kids under 12). Call to reserve seats.

Country Cat Thanksgiving Feast

Gorge yourself on chef-butcher Adam Sappington’s carefully carved meats served with locally sourced soul food like chanterelle soup, truffled deviled eggs and baconbraised collard greens. The Country Cat, 7937 SE Stark St., 408-1414.

2:30-7:30 pm. $40 per person.

Some sides are $5 extra. Call to reserve seats.

T-day SUPPLIES FOR YOUR HOME TABLE Salt Fire and Time/Abby’s Table

[FRESH BIRDS, TAKEOUT MEALS] The community-supported kitchen is offering a special T-Day menu full of nutrient-rich delicacies like celery root and wild mushroom soup ($4 per serving), stuffing with sage and chestnuts ($6 per serving), and mashed parsnips ($6 per serving).

Abby’s Table is providing raw, vegan and gluten-free options as well—like cured kale salad ($4 per serving) and raw pumpkin pie mousse ($4 per serving). It will also be selling sustainable birds from Deck Family Farm ($7.50-$8.50 per pound). To order prepared foods, stop by Salt,

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

Fire and Time/Abby’s Table. 609 SE Ankeny St., 208-2758. To order turkeys, contact Deck Family Farm, 541-998-4967. Specify that you want to pick up at Salt, Fire and Time.

Orders must be placed by Nov. 20 and can be picked up Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov. 24 or 25.

Sassafras Catering

[TAKEOUT MEALS] This catering company is creating a Southerninspired T-Day for the ultimate comfort meal. Its turkey is served up with apple chutney and cranberry-peach relish ($25 for half bird, $50 for full). Sides ($3 per person) include a root vegetable mash, stuffing with your choice of oysters or mushrooms and bacon mixed in, beer-braised collards and apple pie studded with crystallized ginger ($25 for full size, $5 for mini). Call 369-0599 to order. Meal pickup all day Wednesday, Nov. 25, at the kitchen. 5222 NE Sacramento St. Delivery is available in Portland area on Tuesday, Nov. 24, or Wednesday, Nov. 25, for $25. Orders must be placed by Friday, Nov. 20.

Elephants Deli Thanksgiving

[TAKEOUT MEALS] This PDX deli has a wealth of to-go T-Day options.

But Elephants’ menu ranges beyond the bird and trimmings to include soups, appetizer platters, salads and gift baskets. See a full menu at elephantsdeli.com. Call 224-3955 or order at elephantsdeli.com. Orders for whole turkeys must be placed by Wednesday, Nov. 18. All other orders must be placed by Monday, Nov. 23. Elephants Uptown, 115 NW 22nd Ave., 299-6304.

Kenny & Zuke’s

[TAKEOUT MEALS] You won’t get any pastrami with your turkey, but you can trust the sandwich-makers to throw together a killer dinner.

They’ll be offering turkey stuffed with wild mushrooms ($13.75 per pound), along with sides like cornbread stuffing ($9.50 per pound),

twice-baked truffled potatoes ($4.50 each) and three different pies ($16.50-$19.50). Call 222-3354 or email catering@kennyandzukes. com for full menu and to order by 3 pm Monday, Nov. 23.

Gartner’s Country Meat Market

[TURKEYS] This old-school meat market is pretty much a protein mecca. Find an excuse to get your behind out here for the cheap, fresh housemade pepperoni sticks (10 for $5), even if you’re not ordering a turkey. Gartner’s has got competitive prices on both fresh and housesmoked birds ($1.69-$3.49 a pound) as well as stuffed game hens ($8.99 each), prime rib roasts ($8.98 per pound) and sugar-cured hams ($3.98 per pound). Gartner’s, 7450 NE Killingsworth St., 252-7801.

Nicky USA

[TURKEYS & MORE!] When a turkey just won’t do, wild-game purveyor Nicky USA has all your weird protein needs taken care of. Squab! Rabbit!

A partridge in a pear tree! Prices range from $7 to $13 per pound.

Order online at nickyusa.com or by phone at 234-4263. $75 minimum on all orders, and no walk-ins.

PastaWorks

[TURKEYS] Get thee to PastaWorks for “broad-breasted white” Northwest Natural turkeys ($3.75 a pound).

They’re already out of their heritagebreed turkeys, so place your order quickly. Call 232-1010 to order ASAP.

Meirav Catering

[KOSHER TAKEOUT] This local Jewish catering company will provide a five-course kosher turkey dinner—complete with gravy, mashed potatoes and pie.

Everything will be cooked in the Shaarie Torah kitchen so you know it’ll be legit. Email meriav@comcast. net or call 740-7050 for menu and pricing information. All orders must be placed by Sunday, Nov. 22.

Pix Desserts

[DESSERT] Bring a little ooh-lala to the table with Pix. The traditional pumpkin pie gets a cheesecake makeover with a spiced pecan crust ($24-$32). Most intriguing? The macaroon cornucopia: “Four dozen colorful French macaroons in assorted flavors overflow an edible cornucopia of caramelized almonds.” And that’d be an $85 wow. Pix on Division will be open for pickups 9 am-noon on Thanksgiving Day. Pix Pâtisserie, 3402 SE Division St., 232-4407.

Random Order Pies

[PIE] Random Order Coffeehouse is ready with desserts like brandied pears with dark chocolate and candied ginger streusel, and pies such as pumpkin, boozy pecan, pearcranberry-blackberry and old-fashioned apple. Nine-inch rounds ($28) serve about six to eight people. Visit the shop or call to order. Pie list at randomordercoffee.com. Random Order Coffeehouse, 1800 NE Alberta St., 971-340-6995. Orders must be placed by Sunday, Nov. 22.

The Sugar Cube

[DESSERT] Only in PDX could you order Thanksgiving dessert from a food cart. The Sugar Cube is dishing out spiced buttermilk cornbread muffins with meadowfoam honey (6 for $10, 12 for $18, 24 for $25), port cranberry jam ($6 for 8 oz. or $10 for 12 oz.), pumpkin gingerbread cupcakes (6 for $15) and four different Lauretta Jean pies (rum spiced apple, pumpkin with gingersnap crumble, bourbon and ginger pecan, and coconut cream) for $30 each.

Call 890-2825 to order by Monday, Nov. 23. Sugar Cube pickups noon-4 pm, Lauretta Jean pickups 11 am-2 pm, Wednesday, Nov. 25, at the Sugar Cube. 4237 N Mississippi Ave.

still HUNGRY? More Thanksgiving restaurant, market and grub ideas in our expanded guide on wweek.com/tday09.

SELAM ic Mus Eritrean & Ethiopian Cuisine Listings

A WHOLE NEW ELEMENT

IN DINING. $8 Lunch Buffet Mon & Wed

PAGE 31

Lunch & Dinner & Bar 7 days

3513 NE MLK Blvd at Fremont 503-288-8585

UPCOMING LIVE IN-STORE EVENTS! FRANK FAIRFIELD

Saturday 11/21 @ 2PM

California based fiddle, guitar, and banjo player, Frank Fairfield has made his living as a musician, often found playing on the streets of Los Angeles.

Fairfield’s self-titled debut album is recorded and presented as an artifact and with the trebly fidelity of a Lomax field recording from the ‘30s. The album showcases Fairfield’s skill at up-country, front-porch picking and fiddling songs and performances, and his reedy voice is as skilled for the art as his choice of song selections is tasteful.

NEW MENU 30 small plates $4–$9

BLUESTAR EXPRESS Saturday 11/21 @ 2PM

Casey Nova met Michael Beckley and Joi Bailey-Saucy in 2007 at an open mic session in Willamina, Oregon where they formed Bluestar Express. Nova and Beckley play sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars reminiscent of Brian Jones and Keith Richards, while backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Chris Hooper and drummer Jeff Graham. ‘Budget Motel’ is an impressive debut, with its sing-along melodies, mining of roots influences, rural vibe, whimsical eclecticism, angry realism, balladeering, and ballsy all-out rock.

HAPPY HOUR DAILY 3–6 pm; 9pm–close all day Sunday FREE PARKING

PETER AMES CARLIN BOOK SIGNING

At the totally new

Author of Paul McCartney: A Life | Saturday 11/28 @ 3PM

Hotel Fifty

Peter Ames Carlin is a journalist and occasional writer of books and a resident of Portland, Oregon.

Built on years of research and fresh, revealing interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators spanning McCartney’s entire life, Carlin’s lively biography captures the many facets of Paul McCartney and paints a vivid portrait of one of our era’s living legends.

50 SW Morrison Portland H5Obistro.com 503.484.1415

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WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

HEADOUT

MUSIC: Everclear vs. Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.

STAGE: Henry the IV I am, I am.

GALLERIES: The Red Menace.

BOOKS: All about Paul.

SCREEN: Carrying the Sandra Bullock burden.

31 40 43 44 45

CASEY JARMAN

WILLAMETTE WEEK

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK IN ARTS & CULTURE

WEDNESDAY NOV. 18 Best place to see a reformed member of the Children of God cult: GIRLS AT DOUG FIR [MUSIC] Girls frontman Christopher Owen is a former cult member. He also does a lot of drugs. Crazy coincidence, huh? Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

THURSDAY NOV. 19 Best way to score cheap art: HOMESCHOOL ART SHOP [ART] Up-and-coming collectors can snag affordable art by up-andcoming artists at Homeschool’s “coming-out party,” a group show at Ace Cleaners. Prices start at $5 and top off at $150. Ace Cleaners, 403 SW 10th Ave. 6 pm. Free admission.

Best singjay: EEK-A-MOUSE [MUSIC] You know how on hip-hop mixtapes the DJ always sings over the beginning of each track? This guy invented that. Dante’s, 1 SW 3rd Ave., 226-6630. 9:30 pm. $20. 21+.

FRIDAY NOV. 20 Best place to pick up a Twilight MILF: NEW MOON [SCREEN] The second installment of the glampire saga pits Team Edward (sad bloodsucker) vs. Team Jacob (sullen werewolf). But you, my friend, are playing for Team I Want to Date a Crazy Lady. Go get ’em, tiger. Various theaters. Look for a review Friday on wweek.com.

Best way to mock a WW staffer: MEET YOUR _______ [SHAMELESS SELF-PROMO] Super Project Lab’s super-fun series of improvised sketches inspired by stories told by “notable” locals returns with Oregonian music writer Ryan White and WW’s Ben Waterhouse, whose stories involve emus. Winningstad Theatre, PCPA, 1111 SW Broadway., superprojectlab.com. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, Nov. 20-21. $12.

FREE RADICAL DUTCH MUSICIAN AND COMPUTER TAKEOVER THEORIST GOODIEPAL COULD BE A GENIUS. OR JUST MAKING EVERYTHING UP.

If you believe everything you read about Scandinavian electronic musician and scholar Goodiepal, or Gæoudjiparl van de Dobbelsteen the Århus Warrior (real name Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester, we think), then he’s one of the most fascinating figures working with computer-generated sounds. Goodiepal left his position teaching at Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark because the school wouldn’t support his radical ideas. He threw himself off a balcony in London. He built a mechanical bird. He released an album of elec-

tronic compositions, Narc Beacon, which was reviewed by Pitchfork in 2001. He opened his own school in Norway—in a castle.

Or it could all be total bullshit.

The only thing we know for sure? Goodiepal is actually funny, at least when he’s lecturing in broken English about artificial vs. alterative intelligence, the idea that a computer will one day outsmart man, and the band “Soan-ick Yuffs.” He also has a Portland connection—experimental music label Marriage Records released his “textbook,” Radical Computer Music and Fantastisk Mediemanipulation, a few years ago. This Friday, Goodiepal is in town for a rare appearance to lecture about Radical Computer Music and his Mort Aux Vaches Ekstra Extra compositional game scenario.

Honestly, we don’t really know what the hell that is, but damn if we’re not super-intrigued. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. GO: Goodiepal lectures about radical computer music at Portland Community Media, 2766 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 3:30 pm Friday, Nov. 20. Free limited seating.

Best way to enjoy the pain of others: MORTIFIED PORTLAND [OMG] Your fellow Portlanders share their teen journal entries, love letters and home movies. Embarrassment ensues. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 8:30 pm. $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

SATURDAY NOV. 21 Best opportunity to witness some lyrical dexterity: CHALI 2NA [MUSIC] A stacked night of underground hip-hop hosted by Mr. Lif. Backpacks not included. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 224-2038. 8 pm. $18. All ages.

Best way to dig art: WEST COAST TURNAROUND [ART] Crystal Schenk and Shelby Davis built a tractor-trailer semi truck outta drywall and parked inside an artist loft. Milepost 5, 900 NE 81st Ave., No. 203, 729-3223. 6 pm. Free.

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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AN EVENING WITH

THE AMERICAN CARNAGE TOUR

FRIDAY NITE!

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NEXT WEEK!

WARREN G

LYNX & U-N-I JANOVER

ILLAJ PORTLAND GEORGE KEZ & DUNDIGGY NOV 23RD • ROSELAND • 8PM • ALL AGES

FRIDAY NITE!

Lilla D’Mone w/ Saratone FRIDAY NOV 20TH • SOMEDAY LOUNGE • 10:30 PM • 21+

TAB BENOIT Boogie Bone

DECEMBER 9TH • 21 PLUS • 8PM PETER’S ROOM @ THE ROSELAND 30

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

STEED LORD (LIVE) HEY CHAMP COOL NUTZ DECEMBER 7TH • ROSELAND 8PM • ALL AGES

ermC featuring

DEAN CASTRONVO Garden of Eden

Gebular • Hollie Pollock SAT NOV 28TH • ALL AGES • 7PM PETER’S ROOM @ THE ROSELAND

) R E V O E K A T E H (T MC MAGIC • LIL ROB • FROST LIL UNO • LA LA • NIGHT OWL

FRIDAY DEC 4TH • ROSELAND • 8PM • ALL AGES

FRIDAY DECEMBER 18TH ROSELAND 8PM • ALL AGES (503) 224-TIXX

MUSIC

NOV. 18 - 24 PROFILE

= WW Pick. Highly recommended.

Prices listed are sometimes for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and so-called convenience charges may apply. Addresses for local venues are listed in WW’s Clublist column, page 38, or online at blogs.wweek.com/music/clublist/ Editors: CASEY JARMAN, MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, enter show information at least two weeks in advance on the web at wweek.com/submitmusic. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: cjarman@wweek.com Fax: 243-1115.

WEDNESDAY NOV. 18 Girls, Dominant Legs

See Primer, this page. Doug Fir Lounge 9 pm. $10.

Beat Off Grand Battle: Any Means to Many, Libretto, Solovox, Quiet Countries, Shrubbery, Techno Mike, Sedell, Graham Barey

[BEAT BEAT REVOLUTION] This is it! The championship round of the Beat Off competition, a contest that has grown more elaborate with each of its incarnations. Some of tonight’s names are familiar—Solovox is a longtime PDX electronic musician, Quiet Countries is the electro/hip-hop project of Leb Borgerson (who can’t escape his rep as a member of singersongwriter Alan Singley’s band, Pants Machine) and Graham Barey is an exrapper and Portland Mercury hip-hop columnist. Two fine acts perform to round out the evening: Any Means to Many, whose 2008 release, EP1, is an excellent example of electro-acoustic beatmaking, and and L.A.-via-PDX MC Libretto, a longtime collaborator with the Lifesavas crew and a compelling hip-hop storyteller. We’re hoping the latter has got a new disc on the horizon, because it has been far too long. Perhaps he can pick up a few new beats from tonight’s contestants.

CASEY JARMAN. Holocene 8 pm. $5.

Bill Champlin

[BLUE-EYED SOUL] Bill Champlin has enjoyed one of those under-the-radar careers, his workmanlike reputation as a songwriter earning him the respect of his peers, if not the adulation of

millions. The San Francisco-bred songwriter’s early releases with his band the Sons of Champlin found the group’s namesake cutting his chops with bluesy, Joe Cocker-ish belting and sugary funk-pop (1977’s Love is Why features songs reminiscent of Bill Withers or Dr. John delivered with Hall and Oats-style production. Groovy stuff). Champlin, who moonlights with a little band called Chicago, is touring on latest solo effort No Place Left to Fall. Fitting to Champlin’s venue tonight, the disc is full of soulful, jazzy (and somewhat overproduced) love songs. In person, Champlin has a huge catalog to pull from and has a reputation as an engaging performer. CASEY JARMAN. Music Millennium 7:30 and 9:30 pm. $20. 7:30 show is all ages.

9:30 show is 21+.

THURSDAY NOV. 19

SPARKLE AND FADE THE RISE AND FALL OF EVERCLEAR AND THE CHERRY POPPIN’ DADDIES.

BY MICHA EL MA N N HEIMER

and

CASEY JA R MA N

243-2122

This week, as if by some strange cosmic alignment, two large-looming ghosts from Oregon music history return to Portland for encore performances.

And it turns out, Everclear and the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies have more in common than their disparate music would suggest: Both flew impossibly high,

EVERCLEAR Formed: 1992 in Portland.

Genre: Alternative rock or “melodic grunge.”

Everclear, Clayton Senne

See music feature, this page. Crystal Ballroom. 8 pm. $20 advance, $25 day of show. All ages.

Eek-A-Mouse, Jagga

[DANCEHALL REGGAE] After Bob Marley’s death, pioneering “singjay” Eek-A-Mouse represented a bright new path for reggae. He turns 52 tonight, and celebrates on a Portland stage.

Apparently, Mouse finds it a fitting time to look back, having recently released Most Wanted, a collection of extended 12-inch mixes of his classic hits, from breakthrough “Wa-Do-Dem” to the soon-to-be-timely “Christmas-A-Come.”

With those early tracks, Mouse intro-

CONT. on page 32

PRIMER BY MICHAEL MANNHEIMER GIRLS Formed: 2007 in San Francisco Members: Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White.

Latest release: Girls’ debut, Album, came out this fall on True Panther records.

Why you care: Girls’ back story is almost too good to be true:

Frontman and songwriter Christopher Owens grew up as a member of the Children of God cult in Florida (no, really) and spent much of his childhood as a vagabond, living for stints in Europe and Puerto Rico. It’s rumored his mother was among women followers used by the Children of God to bait potential converts with sex, a method of evangelism called “flirty fishing.” Around the age of 16, he escaped to the states and eventually settled in San Francisco, first joining the band Holy Shit with Ariel Pink and Matt Fishbeck before forming Girls. On Album, Owens spins heartbreaking tales of drugs, girls, and on the incredibly catchy breakthrough “Lust for Life,” a wish list of life’s simple pleasures: “I wish I had a suntan/ I wish I had a pizza and a bottle of wine.” Album is also just a pure joy to listen to, 12 songs of buoyant pop filtered through a hazy lens of old 45s and hungover afternoons.

Fans would say: Portland would never be the mecca of indie rock if not for Everclear, which wasn’t just the biggest band in town for a six-year stretch from 1995 to 2001—it was one of the biggest alt-rock bands in the country. Singer Art Alexakis helped put Portland on the map at a time when our neighbors up north dominated the rock charts.

Haters would say: Alexakis is a smarmy prick, a guy who knew how to play three chords and was lucky enough to jump on the bandwagon when major labels were looking high and low for the next Nirvana. If he still lived in that “big house in the West Hills,” we would egg the shit out of that place.

Highest-selling record: 1997’s So Much For the Afterglow, with over 2 million copies sold.

Career high: Though the trio’s best-selling single is the maudlin 2000 ballad “Wonderful,” nothing comes close to 1995’s Sparkle and Fade. Drugs, sex and teenage catharsis.

Career low: “Volvo-Driving Soccer Mom” in 2003. Or the Octoberreleased In a Different Light, a covers record featuring Alexakis’ new hired-guns version of Everclear covering...

Everclear.

Crowning artistic achievement: Those simple opening chords to “Santa Monica” are what every teenage boy in Oregon first learned to play on guitar in the ’90s.

Jumped the shark when… With the terrible Everclear cover of “Brown Eyed Girl”? Or maybe when former Godsmack and Fuel drummer Tommy Stewart joined the band’s third-generation lineup in 2008?

Sounds like: Brian Wilson and Roy Orbison going on a crazy weekend

bender—popping pills, writing love songs, and jamming with Big Star.

For fans of: Jonathan Richman; California pop; anyone who just

wants to shake a leg or two.

SEE IT: Girls play Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Doug Fir, with Dominant Legs. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

Best comeback attempt: At least 2008’s one-off single “Jesus Was a Democrat” had some backbone behind it. (MM)

both bands’ frontmen are mythicized and reviled and, as they plummeted back down to earth, both acts were unceremoniously butchered (or outright ignored) by ex-fans and critics. Here’s a bittersweet look back on two groups that ruled Oregon (and the world) in the late ’90s.

SEE IT: Everclear plays a benefit at the Crystal Ballroom to support St. Francis Dining Hall on Thursday, Nov. 19. 8 pm. $20 advance, $25 day of show. All ages. The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies play Wonder Ballroom on Friday, Nov. 20. 8 pm. $16.50 advance, $20 day of show. All ages.

CHERRY POPPIN’ DADDIES Formed: 1988 in Eugene.

Genre: Funk, ska, swing, rock…everything but the kitchen sink.

Fans would say: The Daddies are a Northwest institution that broke the boundaries of genre and built a faithful fan base through relentless regional touring. Frontman Steve Perry is a dynamic performer and underrated songwriter. And most of Perry’s innuendo-driven wordplay is subtle enough that you can bring your kids to the show!

Haters would say: The Daddies began as an annoying white-boy funk-rock band and, upon seeing the opportunity, milked the swing revival for all it was worth. Now that the ska and swing fads have run their courses, the Daddies have returned to their rightful obscurity. And Steve Perry takes himself far too seriously.

Highest selling record: Zoot Suit Riot (1997), which went platinum in 1998 and double platinum in 2000.

Career high: Playing Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve party (alongside the Backstreet Boys and Chicago) to ring in 1999.

Career low: “Swingin’ With Tiger Woods (The Big Swing),” a halfhearted, failed cash grab from the Daddies’ 2000 release, Soul Caddy. When you go topical with the lyrics (see Everclear’s career low at left), things almost inevitably take a turn for the worse.

Crowning artistic achievement: The victorious and emotionally resonant “Hi and Lo,” a longtime Daddies live favorite finally committed to tape for last year’s Susquehanna and also featured on new collection Skaboy JFK.

Jumped the shark when… The first time they played the Playboy Mansion.

Failed comeback attempt: Last year’s Susquehanna, a balanced, moody release that incorporates Latin flourishes into the Daddies’ already eclectic sound. (CJ)

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

31

THURSDAY - SATURDAY

duced the toasting, singing DJ that’s become as integral to dancehall as the MC is to hip-hop. JEFF ROSENBERG. Dante’s. 9:30 pm. $20. 21+.

Lovvers, Nice Boys, MeerCaz, Orca Team

[PDX-INSPIRED BRIT SASS] If last month’s multi-venue Scion Garage Fest wasn’t sufficient indication that Portland is currently at the epicenter of yet another garage-rock revival, then how about this: England’s Lovvers, last seen in the spring covering Wipers tunes at Satyricon and namedropping Exploding Hearts and Clorox Girls in interviews, recently flew here specially to record their debut full-length with Pat Kearns at Jackpot Studios. And while the band’s catchyas-hell power pop shines through on the resulting record, OCD Go Go Go Girls, when playing live, the quartet turns into a fuzzy lo-fi rendering of a spoiled kid loudly getting his sassy pants in a bunch—meaning it’s the real deal. Sorry, it’s the English in me talking. DAVID ROBINSON. East End. 9 pm. $8. 21+.

Real Estate, Rainbow Bridge, Pill Wonder

[SUNNY DAY…] The members of Real Estate may live a full two hours from the beach, but it’s obviously a place that looms large in the band’s legend. The debut self-titled album by this New Jersey quartet features song titles like “Beach Comber” and “Let’s Rock the Beach.” This isn’t some amphetamine-fueled surf band, however, besides the fact its guitarist makes use of his whammy bar. Real Estate’s music is instead the soundtrack of hazy, woozy beach days in the late evening, when you’ve been drinking and baking in the sun far too long. All the fun, but with all the aftereffects, too. ROBERT HAM. Holocene.

8:30 pm. $8. 21+.

Bombs Into You, Circuit Circuits, Doubleplusgood

[ELECTRONIC ARCHITECTURE] Portland’s Bombs Into You creates music as architecture, beginning each song with a driving beat and layering synthesizer hooks atop each other until each song is piled high with intricate electronic sounds glazed over with an ear toward poppy vocal harmonies and pained laments. With the release of Metaphorically Yours [Volume 2] the trio continues its controlled ascent from the robotic basement. The band creates something that demands to be heard at full volume—dense walls of sound that bombard the senses with controlled bursts while stoking the heart.

AP KRYZA. Mississippi Studios. 9 pm. $8. 21+.

Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, thenewno2

[AUZZIE OZZIES] Ozzy Osbourne is more dead than alive, his best work well behind him. But the Black Sabbath torch hath been passed forth, to the capable and crushing hands of Sydney’s highly charged Wolfmother.

The band’s latest record, Cosmic Egg, is even more classic rock than its sublime self-titled debut, which I continue to believe was recorded in 1972 and released from a vault just a few years ago. Frontman Andrew Stockdale rightly calls his band’s latest effort a “beast”—heavy, hairy and immensely amplified. The theory stands: If “wolf” is part of the band name, it’s worth your time. MARK STOCK. Roseland. 9 pm. $25 advance, $28 day of show. All ages.

Team Evil, IOA, Quiet Countries

[BAND CAMP] What’s better than getting together with all your best friends to play some music? Though Amanda Spring—you might know her from Point Juncture, WA—quietly released an album of her own material under the name IOA (pronounced “Iowa”) earlier this year, her opening gig for Britt Daniel at the recent PDX Pop Now! benefit was actually the debut of her awesome seven-piece band. With the help of buds from Velella Velella, Team Evil, Swim Swam

32

Swum and Paper/Upper/Cuts, IOA’s live show takes Spring’s math-pop tunes to even greater places, with an awesome double rhythm section and lots of trumpet and French horn. Team Evil—also fronted by another PJWA member, Skyler Norwood—and Leb Borgerson’s Quiet Countries round out a rad bill of PDX multi-taskers.

MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. The Woods.

9 pm. $5. 21+.

MarchFourth Marching Band

See CD review, page 34. Wonder Ballroom. 9:30 pm (21+), 6 pm (all ages). $13 advance, $15 day of show.

All ages.

FRIDAY NOV. 20 King Khan & BBQ Show, Those Darlins

[BLOOD BROTHERS] To say that King Khan and Mark Sultan (the BBQ in question) like to sing about all things dirty is like saying Gallagher likes to smash watermelons. When the two titans of sleazy garage rock come together, they tend to give instrumental tracks names like “Suck it and Smell” and sing about their nether regions (“Blow My Top,” “Tastebuds.”)

And though the jokes don’t always stick, the duo’s indelible melodies and ham-fisted commitment to sounding like a long lost Nuggets band is so slapdash and endearing that you can’t help but get lost in the clutter. Khan might not dress like a Mayan James Brown when he’s not with the Shrines, but in Sultan, he’s found his perfect evil foil. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Dante’s. 9:30 pm. $12 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.

Amadan, Sassparilla, The Beautiful Train Wrecks

[COUNTRY-ROCK COMFORT FOOD] Portland’s Beautiful Train Wrecks don’t reinvent the roots-rock wheel, they just put a fresh spin on it. While the band provides a credible country backdrop, Joe Root’s keys open the door to classic rock, and leader Lucas Alberg’s adenoidal voice suggests some improbable fusion like Tom Verlaine singing Tompall Glaser. The band’s debut, Rainy Day Parade (released tonight), finds both singer-songwriter and band still in the process of finding their voices. Alberg certainly sounds more comfortable singing about a “Country Boy” than—apparently chasing his honky-tonk with a shot of Deep Purple—his “cocaine woman from Tokyo.” JEFF ROSENBERG. Doug Fir Lounge. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.

An Albatross, Magick Daggers, Daughters of Bristol, DJ City Rocker

[FREAKS ROCK] More a collage, really, or scrapbook with pages melted together, The Family Album—third fulllength from Pennsylvanian noise circus An Albatross—brings together the entire clan (14 past musicians from a fitful decade’s imaginings) to add its own contributions atop an impossibly dense psychedelic metal fantasia.

The album’s ostensibly a concept song cycle concerning the intergalactic search for peace; every tune’s a thrilling, baffling, multi-layered maelstrom of kiddie synths, anguished shrieks, punk riffs and stop-start structures that only a mother could fully understand. JAY HORTON. East End. 9 pm.

Cover. 21+.

Glass Candy, Desire, Boy Joy, Mike Simonetti

[FROM PDX TO ETERNITY] Portland hasn’t heard much this year from its favorite Italo-disco aficionados, Glass Candy. The duo dropped a rarities and B-sides collection, Deep Gems, in late 2008, and has been mostly M.I.A.—in the Pacific Northwest, at least—ever since. A perusal of the Internet doesn’t reveal anything in the way of a new studio album in the immediate future, but it doesn’t matter: The band is mostly a dance-floor phenomenon, anyway. Its icy, thumping grooves and singer Ida No’s detached sultriness are the cornerstones of the Italians Do It Better label, and it goes really good

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

with strobe lights and fog machines.

MATTHEW SINGER. Rotture. 9 pm. $8. 21+.

The Soft Tags, Mr. Gnome

[LO-FI SHOEGAZE] Portland band the Soft Tags have promised to debut a number of songs off their upcoming double-LP, Mathematical Monsters, at this homecoming show. If the first single, “Pine Barrens,” is any indication, then you’re in for a treat. Droning guitar lines and ghostly vocals are used like a scalpel to produce some of the most engaging tracks of the year. Though it shares many similarities with Olivia Tremor Control, the Soft Tags’ sound is more despondent than dreamy, holding onto single ideas for minutes and fleshing out a bleak landscape of fuzz that is cleverly accentuated by haunting harmonies and slow buildups. IAN RASMUSSEN. The Knife Shop. 10 pm. $5. 21+.

Bark Hide and Horn, Winterhaven, Shoeshine Blue

back. Openers Wizard Rifle, who I’ve regretfully yet to see, sound like one of the best Sabbath-aping new duos around. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Berbati’s Pan. 9 pm. Free. 21+.

effort, Origin: Orphan, is no exception. So let’s hope Gibb still plays his “Golden” oldies live. REBECCA RABER. Doug Fir Lounge. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.

The Hidden Cameras, Gentleman Reg

Don of Division Street, Celilo, The Very Foundation, The Maldives

[CANDID CAMERAS] If you’re like me, you prefer Joel Gibb’s Hidden Cameras when the Canadian collective is at its most gleefully perverse. I’m thinking of the way the overstuffed chamber pop arrangements rub up against lyrics about stained bedsheets on the band’s calling-card song, “Boys of Melody,” or the queer politics of the excellent “Ban Marriage” or the explicit descriptions of sex acts in songs like the selfexplanatory “Golden Streams.” But with each subsequent album, these Cameras become more outmoded as they reach for some sort of middlebrow maturity. The most recent boring

[FOLK POP] It has only been a couple of weeks since local musician Kipp Crawford was struck and killed on his bicycle in North Portland, but his band Celilo decided not to cancel tonight’s performance. “The show must go on,” the Celilo frontman wrote WW shortly after the incident. Don’t be surprised, then, if there’s a heaviness to tonight’s set. The group—which released its best effort to date, Bending Mirrors, earlier this year with Crawford behind the

CONT. on page 34

PROFILE OK PONY

MUSIC

[SMART POP] Bark Hide and Horn is back in action. Two summers ago, the local geek-pop threesome was sending intellectual Portlanders into a tizzy with its toe-tapping nerdy songs about Jacques Cousteau and sex-driven snails. Bark Hide and Horn’s 2008 National Geographic-inspired debut LP, National Road, was highlighted by meticulous orchestration of a shitload of instruments. If the trio’s new material can match the production value of National Road, there is a great album on the horizon. WHITNEY HAWKE. The Woods. 9 pm. $7. 21+.

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

See music feature, page 31. Wonder Ballroom. 8 pm. $16.50 advance, $20 day of show. All ages.

SATURDAY NOV. 21 Magic Johnson, Protect Me, Chrome Wings, Speak

[SLAM-BIENT] The past year has seen Chrome Wings go through some growing pains. Jon Jurow’s project is now operating more or less as a solo act, but in shedding his bandmates, Jurow has allowed the project to become a showcase for his persistently mesmerizing glass towers of sound. At this point Jurow is just burying himself in a rock formation of loop pedals, and the wandering screeches he mines from the minimal setup are tribal in their intensity. Joining the atavistic frenzy is the appropriately joyful punk of Magic Johnson and Los Angeles’ Protect Me. The Artistery. 7:30 pm. $6.

All ages.

GIVE 2009: Brent Knopf, Jason Webley, Calvin Johnson

[THE BRIGHTEST DAY] On his debut as Ramona Falls, Menomena’s Brent Knopf crafted a bedroom-pop record of the highest order. But even more striking than Intuit is a series of stripped-down videos Knopf posted online that outline his meticulous recording process. Knopf’s caterwauling, shifty songs are built piece-bypiece, but usually begin with a simple acoustic guitar line and vocal melody.

Tonight, to benefit Portland’s homeless population, Knopf is performing solo, armed with only a guitar and his arresting voice. Get here early for K Records founder Calvin Johnson, but make sure you’re nice and close for a rare version of Ramona Falls. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Backspace. 9 pm. $15.

All ages.

Life Coach, Ninth Moon Black, Wizard Rifle

[PSYCH JAM NIGHT] If you liked the warped stoner metal of SubArachnoid Space, then offshoot group Life Coach might just blow you away. Featuring two current SAS members (Melynda Jackson on guitar and Dan Barone on bass) and one former timekeeper (longtime drummer Chris Van Huffel) as well as the virtuosic lead guitar of Steven Wray Lobdell, Life Coach does instrumental psych-rock the way it’s supposed to sound: loud, often improvised, and with plenty of guitar feed-

METH TEETH SUNDAY, NOV. 22 [RAINY DAY] If the tone of Portland noise-folk trio Meth Teeth’s debut full-length, Everything Went Wrong, seems a tad pessimistic, there are good reasons for that. For starters, the album’s recording process nearly destroyed the band. It took three full tries to get it done, after the first two were interrupted by everything from members quitting to malfunctioning equipment. If the third attempt had failed, the group was ready to just scrap the whole thing.

“We were so fucking mad at these songs,” says 26-year-old singer-guitarist Mattey Hubele, his round, bearded face framed by a black hoodie.

Clearly, a lot of shit indeed went wrong for the band. But life wasn’t always this difficult. In fact, in its two years together, Meth Teeth has gone pretty smoothly. It wrote and recorded what would become its first 7-inch two days after forming in 2007. A month later, the band piled into a Dodge Stratus and left on tour (the band claims to have logged a jaw-dropping 10,000 miles), miraculously playing nearly every scheduled show. And that’s not to mention that Hubele and drummer Kyle Raquipiso both managed to make clean breaks from their hometown in Tri-Cities, Wash., an area known for nuclear waste and—as the band name suggests—tweakers.

But then, last winter came. “I was living in a concrete basement with no heat,” says Hubele. “So that helped piss me off really bad.” Everything Went Wrong is a product of that period. The frustration shows: Although there are underpinnings of melody and ramshackle Americana, it’s almost completely swallowed by analog fuzz; Hubele’s languid, disconnected vocals are buried by heaps of distortion; songs have titles like “World is Going to End Soon” and “Failures Selected by God.” Hubele says it’s an album about “being bummed in the winter here and hanging out with crazy alcoholic girls who ruin your life.” Considering when it was written, that’s understandable. It also didn’t help that at the time, Hubele was hanging out with a bunch of goths who “would talk about how being bummed is a way of life while taking huge bong rips and watching Tupac videos.”

He laughs at the image, and it becomes apparent that maybe he isn’t the giant buzzkill he appears to be. Hubele shrugs. “I think things are better now.” MATTHEW SINGER. Making the best of this bummer called life.

SEE IT: Meth Teeth plays Doug Fir on Sunday, Nov. 22, with the Dutchess and the Duke and Greg Ashley. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

Produced by

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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MUSIC

SATURDAY - TUESDAY

Future Historians, Pablo

[AMERICANA POP] Few local musicians understand the balance between giddiness and somber reflection, quirk and familiarity, like Dave Shur. With the six-piece Future Historians, Shur churns out soothing daydreams on his guitar that combine modern pop conventions with an ear for rustic Americana without overreaching into either. As a result, the Crosswalks drummer has established himself among the local troubadours without sacrificing what makes him such a prolific songwriter: He isn’t afraid to defy conventional song structure, or let his inner goofball run rampant, even if his meditations get heavy. AP KRYZA. Valentine’s. 9 pm. Free. 21+.

YOU’RE LOUNGING ALL OVER ME: The Heartless Bastards play the Roseland on Thursday. kit—will rely on the Don of Division Street to fill in on some percussive duties, and it will perform some songs without any backbeat. The group’s tense-and-slack arrangements occasionally veer into jam territory, meaning a substitute drummer could make a big imprint on the band’s sound this evening. The Don—who’ll perform crunchy, bouncy pop songs of his own in the headlining spot—should be an excellent fill-in, but Crawford’s skills are going to be mighty hard to replace. Crawford himself, of course, is irreplaceable. CASEY JARMAN. Mississippi Studios 9 pm. $8. 21+.

Laudanum, Black Ganion, Ritual Necromancy, Atriarch

[THE END IS NIGH] East Bay ultradoom outfit Laudanum has the capacity to alternately lull and obliterate the listener. Vocalist Nathan Misterek made his name in Graves at Sea, but now lends his terrifying and unmistakable range of nightmare voices to Laudanum and its new album, The Coronation. In addition to celebrating this release, Laudanum is helping present Nagoya, Japan’s, Black Ganion to U.S. soil. For the first time in its sixyear existence, “Super Metamorphosis Grinder,” a.k.a. Black Ganion, brings its grinding and musical hardcore prog sound to town. Not for the faint of heart, this show is a fantastic mix of international art-metal, kicked off by two of the best heavy local newcomers of 2009. NATHAN CARSON. Plan B. 8 pm. $5. 21+.

Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, Mr. Lif, Lyrics Born

[BLING NOT INCLUDED] Allow me to drop the nauseating term “conscious hip-hop” for a second, just ‘cause I’m guessing you know the connotations: backpacks, PC-minded, socioeconomically aware lyrics, white-dominated fanbase. The kind of rap your parents might even enjoy? Well, for fans of such stuff, this show is kind of a wet dream: Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na and Blackalicious MC Gift of Gab, both touring behind brand new albums, plus fellow Quannum Projects geezer Lyrics Born and a figure in the shape of Boston’s Mr. Lif who can make Chuck D’s rhymes look politically apathetic. This is one stacked lineup.

DAVID ROBINSON. Roseland. 8 pm. $18. All ages.

Rainbow Arabia, She’s on Drugs, Housefire, DJ Rad

[WORLD MUSIC A-GO-GO] Talk about bringing the world to the listener! Based in California, husbandand-wife duo Danny and Tiffany Preston—who record under the name Rainbow Arabia—are adept at writing infectious, DayGlo pop songs that weave in African, Middle Eastern and Asiatic influences so seamlessly that the listener wouldn’t be blamed for mistaking their festive tunes for something caught in one of Sublime Frequencies’ many tourist trawls. If you’re down with M.I.A. and Gang Gang Dance but feel that the extracultural efforts of TV on the Radio and Vampire Weekend are a mite too Western, you may have found a new favorite band. RAY CUMMINGS. Rotture. 9 pm. $6. 21+.

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Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, The Ocean Floor

[LADY TODAY] Like Amy Winehouse, Sallie Ford might draw upon your grandparents’ record collection for her music—in her case, early rock ‘n’ roll with traces of ‘40s vocal jazz— but her sassy nasal yelp of a voice and lyrics name-dropping Joni Mitchell, E.E. Cummings and Sunny Day Real Estate prove she’s not trying to recreate the past. Ford, who moved to Portland from North Carolina, even looks the part with her cat eyeglasses and flowing summer dresses.

But the simple, stripped-down and soulful playing of her band, the Sound Outside, has more in common with ‘90s garage rock than, say, Ella Fitzgerald. MATTHEW SINGER. The Knife Shop. 10 pm. $5. 21+.

SUNDAY NOV. 22 The Dutchess & The Duke, Greg Ashley, Meth Teeth

See profile, page 32. Doug Fir Lounge.

9 pm. $10. 21+.

Them Crooked Vultures, Mini Mansions

[ROCK AND ROLL] Less of a supergroup than some FM-besotted adolescent’s fever dream, Them Crooked Vultures bring together the instrumental majesty of guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), and bassist John Paul Jones (Led... are these strictly necessary?) for its long-rumored celebration of all things rawk. While the band’s eponymous debut is set to be released this week, the legends have spent three months touring a live show that features Jones juggling inimitable chugging ballast alongside un-embarrassing flights of fancy (including mandolin and keytar diversions), Grohl relishing the opportunity for unadorned Bonham worship, and Homme distilling the most straightforward QOTSA moments toward a pitch-perfect garage jam of the gods. JAY HORTON. Roseland. 8 pm. SOLD OUT. All ages.

MONDAY NOV. 23 Forro in the Dark, RedRay Frazier

[FROM BRAZIL WITH DRUGS] Forro is the heavily rhythmic, accordion-driven popular dance music of Northeastern Brazil, but this is not what the New York-based expats of Forro in the Dark play. Not exactly, anyway. Augmenting traditional percussive instrumentation—conga, triangle and a huge bass drum called a zabumba—with the sizzling fuzztone guitar of onetime Beck sideman Smokey Hormel, the band prefers to call itself “forro on acid.”

The group came together in 2002 initially for a one-off birthday gig, but things quickly got more serious as the band’s unique sound caught the attention of pop-ethnomusicologist David Byrne, who lent his anxious croon to two songs on 2006’s Bonfires of Sao Joao. Since then, the core quartet has collaborated with everyone from Bebel Gilberto to Steve Earle, but where it truly shines is in its hot, sweltering live shows. MATTHEW SINGER. Doug Fir Lounge. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

TUESDAY NOV. 24 The Swell Season, Doveman

[TWICE] Not the sort of album to ordinarily enter U.S. charts at No. 15, the Swell Season’s sophomore release, Strict Joy, ambles a lovely, wistful, dullish folk pop that’d drift toward soporific if not for the moments of roiling Celtic angst and a surrounding back-story seemingly made for the movies, except…it sort of was. Cast as two acoustic musicians in Ireland who fell in love amid the Oscar-winning indie Once, Irish acoustic musician Glen Hansard and Czech songwriter Markéta Irglová actually did, and, much as that informed the twee-but-soulful pleasures of the film’s soundtrack, even the most cloying moments of their new collection—recorded during the inevitable break-up—seem achingly poignant. When they start dating again, here’s hoping the new partners can harmonize. JAY HORTON. Crystal Ballroom. 8 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show. All ages.

CunninLynguists, Grieves w/Budo, Looptroop Rockers, Tunji, Living Proof

[SOUTHERN-FRIED RAP] The name CunninLynguists proves two things before you even hear the Lexington, Ky., group’s music: a sincere love of wordplay and a somewhat Bart Simpson-esque knack for delinquency.

Both traits are evident in the group’s sound: The Lynguists have battletested roots, as evidenced by tracks like the speedy “616 Rewind” from 2005 debut Will Rap for Food. But the group has developed a knack for narrative over the course of its five subsequent releases. This was perhaps best displayed on 2007 release Dirty Acres, a moody journey through the not-quite-post-racial South. Thoughtful lyricism persists throughout the trio’s dual 2009 releases, Strange Journey (Volumes 1 and 2). The Lynguists’ lyrical dexterity is underscored by the future dystopia-via-jazz production of group members Kno and Deacon, a beatmaking duo that’s in high demand in the rap world. It’s only a matter of time before the Lynguists take their rightful place among Southern hip-hop royalty, so you might consider this show a chance for some “I saw them when” bragging rights.

CASEY JARMAN. Hawthorne Theatre 8 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show.

All ages.

Carcrashlander, Rey Villalobos, Grandchildren

[REMADE HORIZON] Over the past two years, Carcrashlander has undergone a self-inflicted facelift. The Portland six-piece has sloughed off the jangly folk sound of yesteryear and replaced it with fresher, prettier, experimental electro-rock. This shift has resulted in a polished end product, centered on frontman Cory Gray’s coy whispering voice, which holds a strong resemblance to A Weather’s Aaron Gerber. The crowd will certainly snag a sneak peek of tracks off Carcrashlander’s new release, Where to Swim, slated to drop Dec. 11 on Bay Area sustainable eco-label Parks and Records. Also, rumor has it there will be Carcrashlander beer cozies for preorders. WHITNEY HAWKE. Valentine’s.

9 pm. Free. 21+.

ALBUM REVIEWS

MARCHFOURTH MARCHING BAND RISE UP (SELF-RELEASED) [BRASS ’N’ BALLS] Some great live bands just can’t seem to capture their in-person energy on disc. “You have to see ’em live,” we tell friends, apologetically, when the CD doesn’t bring it. I was afraid that would happen with MarchFourth, whose joyous performances owe so much to the visual—and visceral— impact of so many big-horn toters and percussionists having so much fun, marching into the audience and throwing down.

That ambience is notoriously hard to capture on a recording, as even masters like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band have discovered.

Of course, no CD could quite encode all of March’s costumed energy—much less its flag-twirlers, stilt-walkers, unicycles, fire eaters, puppets and other accomplices—in little digital bytes.

But Rise Up comes a lot closer than any of us had any right to expect.

Sounding tighter than ever, the two- or three-dozen member collective has miraculously managed to channel its raucous sweat, swing and swagger for home and headphone. Newbies can enjoy this party-ready record for its own sake instead of just as a pale souvenir of a full color concert.

The disk presents almost the full range of M4’s diverse sounds— Mexican brass band (“Contada Ridiculata”), odd-meter Balkan party gypsies (“Simplon Cocek”), throwback Latin big-band jazz (“Dynomite”), classic funk (“Freestyle for Miles,” which owes as much to James Brown as to its namesake), New Orleans second line (“Ninth Ward Calling”), gospel rave up (“Gospel”) and unclassifiable hybrids. If Herb Alpert were still running the Tijuana Brass, “Happiness” would be the perfect cover.

Some proceeds from Rise Up go to Sweet Home New Orleans, a nonprofit organization that helps the damaged Crescent City’s music and cultural institutions recover from Katrina’s helluva Bush-whacking job. Fresh as Rise Up sounds, there’s no substitute for the full MarchFourth live experience—lucky for us, the band plays this week. BRETT CAMPBELL.

CURIOUS HANDS BANGIN’ LIKE A FOX (SELF-RELEASED) [SHORT STORY] Brevity can go a long way in rock music. Of the 19 tracks on local spiky-punk quartet Curious Hands’ second full-length, Bangin’ Like a Fox, only one is longer than three minutes. Actually, hell, the whole thing breezes by in just over half an hour. I have three songs in my iTunes library longer than that.

The fun in listening to Bangin’ comes from its short run time.

Instead of tacking on needless bridges or an extra chorus, Curious Hands’ two songwriters—guitarist Jack Tuftee and bassist Tyler Riggs— distill a serious dose of punk rock sneer into sharp pop nuggets that, if anything, almost resemble a garage-rock haiku. It’s tempting (and easy) to compare the band’s songs to Guided by Voices mid-’90s material, where Bob Pollard seemed terrified of letting anything get past the first verse. Those confines led to some incredible pop moments, though; 14 years on, and “Game of Pricks” is still the most perfect 93 seconds ever put to a crappy-sounding four-track.

In my mind, a more accurate comparison is to prolific Vermont project the Capstan Shafts, if leader Dean Wells were into video games instead of lengthy song titles. “Tuck Away Boys” and “Bleeding Heart” both bop along on jangly arrangements and choogly guitar playing, and “I Told You So,” with its stop-and-start beat and infectious hook, would fit well on any mixtape. Though it’s filled with a bit of clutter and silly moments (do they really need to sing about starfish?), Bangin’ proves that sometimes it kills to keep it simple. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. SEE IT: MarchFourth plays Wonder Ballroom on Thursday, Nov. 19.

6:30 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show. All ages. Curious Hands play Langano Lounge on Saturday, Nov. 21. 9 pm. Free. 21+.

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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MUSIC CALENDAR WED. NOV. 18 Airplay Cafe

WCS/NSAI Songwriter’s Open Mic (6:30 pm); Colleen Raney & Hanz Araki (5:30 pm)

Aladdin Theater

David Wilcox, Peppino D’Agostino

Andina

Toshi Onizuka

Ash Street Saloon

Bruhn, Quality Fridge Buzz, Thread Spinner, Imaginary Airship

Berbati Restaurant

Mattress, Broken Water

Biddy McGraw’s

Nancy Conescu & Geraldine Murray (9 pm); Little Sue Happy Hour (6 pm)

Calabash Doo Doo Funk All-Stars Jam W/ Tony Ozier’s Band

Dante’s

Underscore Orkestra, Leapin’ Louie Lichtenstein, Tana the Tattooed Lady, Curt Carlyle, Dingo Dizmal, William Batty, Jane Power

Doug Fir Lounge

Girls, Dominant Legs

Duff’s Garage

Suburban Slim’s Blues Jam

Dunes

Palo Verde, Vibrato, Stag Bitten

Ella St. Social Club

Jesse Meade, Leonard Mynx, Mike Midlo

Goodfoot

Klickitat, Eleven Eyes

Ground Kontrol

Oven Rake, Crashfaster, Minusbaby, Mr. Spastic

Hawthorne Theatre

Von Doom, Ex Nihlio, Excruciator, Seclorum

Heathman Restaurant and Bar Belinda Underwood

Holocene

Beat Off Grand Battle: Solovox, Quiet Countries, Shrubbery, Techno Mike, Sedell, Graham Barey

Jimmy Mak’s

The Mel Brown Quartet

Kells

Cronin Tierney

LaurelThirst Public House

Alice Stuart (9 pm); Hillstomp (6 pm)

Living Room Theaters

Frightening Waves of Blue

London Grill Bill Beach

Ensiferum, Hypocrisy, Ex Deo, Blackguard, Dusks Embrace

[NOV. 18 - NOV. 24] New Mecca, Tullis, Drebin

Editor: Michael Mannheimer. TO HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED, enter show information at least two weeks in advance on the web at wweek.com/submitmusic. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: mmannheimer@wweek.com.

Find more music: reviews 31 | clublist 38 For more listings, check out blogs.wweek.com/music/calendar/ McMenamins Edgefield The Old Yellers, Freak Mountain Ramblers

McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern

Jon Koonce & One More Mile

Mississippi Pizza

Artichoke Community Music

Mississippi Studios

Huck Notari (9 pm); Josh Lightnin’ (6 pm)

The Sleepy Eyed Johns

Music Millennium Bill Champlin

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery Weekly Therapy: Tyler Stenson & The Sale

Satyricon

Cut House You, The Mercury Tree, I Write Some Songs, Stealing Sundown

Thirsty Lion Kent Smith

Twilight Cafe & Bar

Ribcages, Mosquito Bandito, Ghostwriter, Prison

Virgo and Pisces

Stephen Ashbrook

White Eagle Saloon

Just Lions, Almost Dark, Yoyodyne

THURSDAY NOV. 19 Aaron’s Wine Cellar & Piano Bar Doug Westberg

Airplay Cafe

Gabe Salo Happy Hour and Family Dinner Concert

Aladdin Theater The Makaha Sons

Andina

Tracy Kim

Mississippi Studios

Pseudophiles

Bombs Into You, Circuits Circuits, Doubleplusgood

Chapel Pub Steve Kerin

Mt. Tabor Theater

Crystal Ballroom

Warrior King, Gyptia

Everclear, Clayton Senne

Red Room

Dante’s

Mr. Howl, Metropolitan Farms, Welfare State, The Control Freaks

XOTICA-GO-GO Eek-A-Mouse, Jagga

Roots Organic Brewing

Doug Fir Lounge

Dramady, Doseywallips, Dusty Heroism

Ashley King

Trio Subtonic (9 pm); Megafauna (6 pm)

Buffalo Gap Saloon

Slabtown

TeaZone and Camellia Lounge

Mississippi Pizza

Mix-Box Jazz Trio

Roseland

Ducketts Public House

Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, thenewno2

Rotture

Duff’s Garage

Vinnie the Squid, Cory O, Mr. Wu

Paschal Coeur, Babies Got Rabies

Satyricon

Dunes

Comeback Kid, Gravemaker, Mother of Mercy, Dead Swans, Valor

Gemini Mars, Mater Uji, undubbed

East End

Lovvers, Nice Boys, MeerCaz, Orca Team

Fire on the Mountain

Songwriter’s Showcase with Marie Black, Katie Naylor, Michael Quinby

Goodfoot

Jesta, Doc Ocular, The Skunky Bunch

Someday Lounge

Hawthorne Theatre

Red Eye Soul Tribe, Climatize, Ingredients

Heathman Restaurant and Bar Real Estate, Rainbow Bridge, Pill Wonder Bill Champlin (9:30 & 7:30 pm)

Kells

Cronin Tierney

The Fix: DJ Kez, DJ Rev Shines, Ohmega Watts, DJ Dundiggy

TeaZone and Camellia Lounge

Johnny Martin Trio

Jimmy Mak’s

Tom Arnold & Friends featuring Sig Paulson

Slim’s

Erin Chambers

Holocene

Sellwood Public House

Rose & All Things Red with Jon Hecox

The Knife Shop Just Lions

The Woods

Team Evil, IOA, Quiet Countries

Thirsty Lion

Huge Sally, Baron Ward

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WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

Twilight Room

Jimmy Mak’s

White Eagle Saloon

Enkrya, mötæ, Pressure Code The Way Downs

Wonder Ballroom

Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom

Airplay Cafe

McMenamins Edgefield

Alberta Street Public House

MarchFourth Marching Band

FRIDAY NOV. 20 Airplay Cafe

We Live Here: An Evening of Music, Words, Images and Stories (8 pm); Andy Simon Sings (5:30 pm)

Aladdin Theater Josh Blue

Alberta Street Public House

Tom May Band

‘80s Video Dance Attack Hosted by Vj Kittyrox

Toshi Onizuka

Mississippi Pizza

Backspace

Little Claw, Talk Normal, Wet Hair, Silver Interior, STLS

Berbati’s Pan

Nitzer Ebb, Unter Null, Gentry

Biddy McGraw’s

Jackstraw (9:30 pm); Billy Kennedy Happy Hour (6 pm)

Branx

Lionsden, Lamar Leroy, DJ Kellan

Melao de Cana (9 pm); The New Old Timers Bluegrass Band (6 pm)

Mississippi Studios

Amber Rubarth, Chris Pierce, Breanna Paletta + The Sale

Boomerang Summer W/ Ty Phillipe

Carvlin Hall

Buffalo Gap Saloon

Original Halibut’s

Norman Sylvester

Greg Clarke

Press Club

Ezra Holbrook and Friends

Red Room

Rotture

Satyricon

Amadan, Sassparilla, The Beautiful Train Wrecks

Prize Country, Rat Eyes, Loom

Ducketts Public House

The Whines, Manbones, The Cheap Meats

Duff’s Garage

Sellwood Public House Adrian Martin

Slabtown

Flash Flood & the Dikes

DK Stewart & The Soul Survivor Horns

Someday Lounge

East End

LYNX & Janover, Lilla D’Mone

Ella St. Social Club

Gayle Skidmore, Travis Oberg, Emily Overstreet

TeaZone and Camellia Lounge

An Albatross, Magick Daggers, Daughters of Bristol, DJ City Rocker Secret Codes, Kelli Frances Corrado, Geist & The Sacred Ensemble

The Knife Shop

Fire on the Mountain

Mama Sunshine, 1776, Midnight Callers

East Pete (9:30 pm); Kinzel and Hyde (5 pm)

Groove Suite

R9 Techno with Bryan Zentz and George Holland

Berbati’s Pan

Circled By Hounds

Glass Candy, Desire, Boy Joy, Mike Simonetti

Doug Fir Lounge

Backspace

GIVE 2009: Brent Knopf, Jason Webley, Calvin Johnson

Muddy Rudder Public House

The Black Crowes

Dante’s

Jetfighter, The Missionary Position, Western Family, The Low Arts

Biddy McGraw’s

Roseland

King Khan & BBQ Show, Those Darlins

Ash Street Saloon

Fez Fetale

Adalord, Dylan & Lindsay

Elite

Magic Johnson, Protect Me, Chrome Wings, Speak

Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge

Roots Organic Brewing

Clyde’s Prime Rib

Artistery

Life Coach, Ninth Moon Black, Wizard Rifle

Dealer, Bad Move, Asteroid M

The Misty Mamas, Greg Clarke

Andina

Pagan Jug Band

Mt. Tabor Theater

Kevin Selfe and the Tornadoes

Buffalo Gap Saloon

Toy Trains Family Concert

McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern Jon Koonce

North Head, Chris Margolin and The Dregs, Rex Sole, Ill Lucid Onset

SATURDAY NOV. 21

French Pilar

McMenamins-Grand Lodge

Condor

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

Manny Chester (10 pm); Mark Alan (7 pm)

Redwood Son

Kurt Prond

The Soft Tags, Mr. Gnome

The Parlour

The Woods

Bark Hide and Horn, Winterhaven, Shoeshine Blue

Syrius Jones

Clyde’s Prime Rib Curious Comedy Round Midnight: Quadraphonnes

Dante’s

Queens of Oblivion, Heavy Liquid, DJ GrungeRuckus, Emcee Eleven

Doug Fir Lounge

The Hidden Cameras, Gentleman Reg

Ducketts Public House

Aires and Graces, Drunken Debauchery, Brut Squad

Duff’s Garage Jon Koonce

East Burn

Chris Boone & The Bruce Lees

East End

Fruit of the Legion of Loom, Madraso, Thor Ark

Ella St. Social Club

Soft Paws, Cat Stalks Bird, Les Étrangers

Fez Ballroom

Swing Dance with The Bridgetown Sextet

Goodfoot Jujuba

Hawthorne Theatre

I Will Be King, Real Eyes, The Mustaches, Robots with Feelings, Left of Davis, The Pangies, Alone About Nightmare, Deophobic

EE he FR Take tle Decker Doub LAZERS to B Games!

Home

Now you don’t have to go out of your way to enjoy a fine cigar.

Just go downstairs!

Kells Cigar Room.

Jade Lounge

Josh Cole Band, Quality Shine (9:30 pm); Floating Glass Balls (6 pm)

Ash Street Saloon

Howie and the Hotknives, DJ Vibecop, The Baron, DJ White Stag

Twilight Cafe & Bar

Kendall Holladay

LaurelThirst Public House

McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern Billy Kennedy

Holocene

Wonder Ballroom

Andina

Branx

Izzy & The Kesstron Caguama, Stick My Dick in the Mashed Potatoes

Station Zero, Hip Replacements (9:30 pm); Reverb Brothers (5:30 pm)

Folk & Spoon

McMenamins Edgefield

Tiger Bar

Kells

Biddy McGraw’s

Bill Beach

Jacob Merlin

Chris Marshall, Emma Hill (8:30 pm); Will West & The Friendly Strangers (5:30 pm)

London Grill

Fanfarlo, Freelance Whales

Boy and Bean

Tom Waits for No Man Benefit for Tom Nunes: Little Sue, Lewi Longmire, Dan Jones, more (9 pm); Lewi Longmire Band (6 pm)

Thirsty Lion

Bobby Torres

Gretchen Mitchell, Carib

White Eagle Saloon

The Spittin’ Cobras, No Red Flags, Rendered Useless, Penalty Killers

Sellwood Public House Bridgetown Morris Men

LaurelThirst Public House

Coco Cobra and the Killers, The Interlopers, Force Fed Lead

Berbati’s Pan

Muddy Rudder Public House

Freak Mountain Ramblers

Ash Street Saloon

Camping Party, A Peaceful Valley, Mosiac of Language (9 pm); Rozendal, Aubrey & the New Queen of Nerd Rock (6 pm) Nick Jaina, Viva Las Vegas, Matt Sheehy, Jim Brunberg, More.

Kennedy School

Songwriter Roundup

Heathman Restaurant and Bar

Klein Quartet

Tonic Lounge

= WW Pick. Highly recommended.

It’s a Beautiful Pizza Arabesque

Hawthorne Theatre

*For dine in only. Must present this ad at time of ordering to receive discount. Not valid with any other offer or promotion. No danny boy specials. Max $13. For 2 or more customers only, max. 3 coupons per table.

Valid Monday - Friday 11:30am to 2pm through end November, 2009.

Board at Kells 6:30 Game Nights 112 SW 2nd • 503 227 4057 • www.kellsirish.com

Satyricon

Twilight Cafe & Bar

Someday Lounge

Valentine’s

Sleep, Hives Inquiry, Gapetto & Daps, Abadawn, Flyvek The Global Cabaret, Negara, Origin Belly Dance, Znama Dance Company, Julia D. Sanasarian, Samantha Rigg

St. David’s Episcopal Church Portland Peace Choir

The Knife Shop

Sleepwalk Kid, Tiger House, Purple Heart, The Helping Hands

The Old Church

Rodney Jones, Sammie Thompson

The Parlour

Too Many Moths (8 pm); Mister Chill’R (5 pm)

Valentine’s

Them Hills, Neal Morgan

Virgo and Pisces

Steve Cheseborough

SOLITARY MAN: Warren G, Monday, Nov. 23 @ the Roseland.

Heathman Restaurant and Bar

Plan B

Mitzi Zilka

Laudanum, Black Ganion, Ritual Necromancy, Atriarch

Jade Lounge

Press Club

Kells

Red Room

Tchotchkes

Tom May Band

Lagano Lounge

Curious Hands, Hey Lover

LaurelThirst Public House Mike Coykendall Band, Low Bones (9:30 pm); Little Sue Band (6 pm)

Local Lounge

Noah Peterson Soul-Tet

London Grill

Eli Reischman (5:30 pm); Jean Ronne (9:30 am)

Macadam’s Bar & Grill Jim Fischer Piano Guy

McMenamins Edgefield

Cory Sterling Project (10 pm); Kris Deelane (7 pm)

McMenamins Hotel Oregon Kathryn Claire

McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern Floating Glass Balls

McMenamins-Grand Lodge Emily Herring

Mississippi Pizza

Caught in Motion, Canoe (9 pm); The Ragged Word (6 pm); Kids Spelling Bee (1 pm)

Mississippi Studios

Don of Division Street, Celilo, The Very Foundation, The Maldives

Mt. Tabor Theater

Perfect, RK1, Jagga, Nico Luminous, Pressure Buss Pipe

Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge Epic Lulz

Billy Goat

Thundering Asteroids, Council Crest, Snake Bitch, Backburner

Roots Organic Brewing Munro & Nichols Trio

Roseland

Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, Mr. Lif, Lyrics Born

Rotture

Rainbow Arabia, She’s on Drugs, Housefire, DJ Rad

Satyricon

Wednesday 13’s Gunfire 76, Bullets & Octane, The Becoming, Toxic Zombie, Taper

TeaZone and Camellia Lounge Darren Klein, Dan Duval

The Art Bar & Bistro Shelly Rudolph

The Knife Shop

Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, The Ocean Floor

The Parlour

Adventures! With Might, Dropa, Sad Music For Happy Humans

The Woods

Stringray Sam Premier

Thirsty Lion Holding Out

Tiger Bar

Alberta Street Public House Cahalen Morrison

Andina

Danny Romero

Ash Street Saloon

Metaphisc, Strangeletter, Aranya

Calabash

Soft Sundays W/ Gretchen Mitchell Band

Daddy Mojo’s

The Americana Music Brunch

Dante’s

Sinferno Cabaret

Doug Fir Lounge

The Dutchess & The Duke, Greg Ashley, Meth Teeth

Hawthorne Theater Lounge Kent Smith

Hawthorne Theatre

Lets Get Lost, Katie Carlene, Vieve Rose, Dust Bunny Nation

LaurelThirst Public House Billy Kennedy & Tim Acott (9:30 pm); Freak Mountain Ramblers (6 pm)

McMenamins Edgefield Sonny Hess & Lisa Mann

McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern Mississippi Pizza

Twilight Cafe & Bar

O’Connor’s Vault

Dinner Pelonca

Original Halibut’s

Philly’s Phunkestra (9:30 pm); Someday Syndrome (4:30 pm)

A.C. Porter and Big Noise

SUNDAY NOV. 22

Tonic Lounge

Perfect Zero, NIAYH, The T Club

Virgo and Pisces White Eagle Saloon

MONDAY NOV. 23

EEFT, Minnow (9 pm); Brad Creel & the Reel Deel (6 pm)

Mississippi Studios

TUESDAY NOV. 24

WED. NOV. 18 C.C. Slaughters

Tric 80s Flashback With DJ Robb

Crown Room

Crush Drum and Bass

Aladdin Theater

East Chinatown Lounge

Andina

Matador

Ash Street Saloon

Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge

Keb’ Mo’

JB Butler

Industry Night DJ I Love You

Wednesday Night Takeover

Organ LeRoi and the Donors

Crystal Ballroom

The Swell Season, Doveman

Tube

Awesome Racket: DJs 2 Arm Tom, Wroid Wrage

Dante’s

The Ed Forman Show

Duff’s Garage

The Sodbusters

THURSDAY NOV. 19 Blue Monk

Bishop Creek Cellars/ Urban Wineworks East

Goodfoot

Club 915

Keegan Smith & The Fam

Doug Fir Lounge

Forro in the Dark, RedRay Frazier

Duff’s Garage

Big “D” Jamboree featuring Northwesternaires and Lisa & Her Kin

Ella St. Social Club

Scott Pemberton Trio

Hawthorne Theatre

CunninLynguists, Grieves w/ Budo, Looptroop Rockers, Tunji, Living Proof

Jax

C.C. Slaughters Crown Room

Delicious! Alternative Dance Party

Fez Ballroom Shadowplay

Groove Suite House Call

Portland Jazz Singers Showcase

Ground Kontrol

Jimmy Mak’s

Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom

The Mel Brown Septet

Kells

Eric Tonsfeldt

LaurelThirst Public House

Tree Frogs (9 pm); Jackstraw (6 pm)

DJ Mozzley

‘80s Video Dance Attack: VJ Kittyrox

Matador

Highway To Hell

Tiga

Hexlove, Moodring, Pregnant, Cruiser

London Grill

Sam Gould

Fire on the Mountain

MacTarnahan’s Taproom

Gimmie Danger: DJ Maxamillion

Goodfoot

McMenamins Edgefield

Hawthorne Theatre

Mississippi Pizza

Jax

Mt. Tabor Theater

Russel James - Outlaw

Sonic Forum Open Mic Night Eluveitie, Belphegor, Alestorm, Vreid

Hank Hirsh Jazz Jam

Jimmy Mak’s Dan Balmer

Kells

Eric Tonsfeldt

LaurelThirst Public House Kung Pao Chickens

Don Jansen

Laura Ivancie & Dan Miller

Caleb Klauder & Sammy Lind This Fair City (9 pm); McDougall, Pat Reedy (6 pm) Get Up Get Down

O’Connor’s Vault Julie And The Boy

Satyricon

Vader, Decreptit Birth, Warbringer, The Amenta, Augury, Swashbuckle

McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern

Someday Lounge

Mississippi Pizza

Tiger Bar

Bob Shoemaker

Warren G, U-N-I, Illaj, Portland George

Roseland

Satyricon

Municipal Waste, Off With Their Heads, Phobia, Cauldron

Ben Samples, Cory O, Boy Meets Club

Blue Monk

Tiger Bar

Fire on the Mountain

Open Mic MCs and Poets

SATURDAY NOV. 21 Branx

Calabash

DJ Bad Wizard

Scott Head

Calabash

Mr. Chill’r and Skywalker

Tiga

Hip-Hop Heaven With DJ Robb

Karaoke

Vino Vixens

Leather Tom & The Dirty Dudes, Guantanamo Baywatch

Hungry Holler, Kites & Crows

Buffalo Gap Saloon

White Light Dance Party w/ DJ Girlfriends & DJ Gottesfinger

C.C. Slaughters

Berbati’s Pan

Andina

Noir Notes

Valentine’s

Starcatcher’s featuring DJ Deformaty, DJ Keoni, Echoik

Couch, Tribes, Blood Owl

Ella St. Social Club

Roseland

Rhythmmemory, Invincible Dude, Girlfriends

Voltronic

SPIN CITY

DJ N-Able

Blushin Roulettes

Rotture

White Eagle Saloon

Dover Weinberg Quartet

Mark Growden, 3 Leg Torso, Swing Papillon Them Crooked Vultures, Mini Mansions

Future Historians, Pablo

Aladdin Theater

Stryper, Manic Drive

Kathryn Claire & Matthew Hayward-McDonald

Muddy Rudder Public House Dave Fleschner Trio

Hot Buttered Rum, Fruition

Lock N Load, The Martyrs

Pale Blue Sky, Rowdy James Band, The Atonements

Lowell Mitchell

Wonder Ballroom

Brenden John, The Porceline Dolls

Funk Night hosted by Julian’s Ride Matt French Band

Twilight Cafe & Bar Swift

Valentine’s

Carcrashlander, Rey Villalobos, Grandchildren

Virgo and Pisces Autumn Electric

Tube

Valentine’s

TLC Country Night w/ DJs Mustache Mike and Gordan Organ

FRIDAY NOV. 20

Revolution With DJ Robb Sabado Suave, w/DJ Max

East Chinatown Lounge DJ IZM

Forty Fifth St. Pub & Grill DJ HazMatt

Ground Kontrol

DJ Spencer Daran, DJ Flight Risk

Holocene Gaycation

Matador

S.I.N.: Gregarious, Flight Risk, Colin Sick

Plan B Hive

Tiga

Hostile Tapeover

Tube

DJ Marty

Valentine’s

DJ Drew Groove

SUNDAY NOV. 22 Groove Suite Soulstice

Ground Kontrol

DJ Hellion, DJ Sacrifyx

Tube

Holy Revival Sundays: DJ A-Train, DJ Clark

MONDAY NOV. 23 Devils Point DJ Brooks

Ground Kontrol DJ Death King

Matador

DJ Donny Don’t

C.C. Slaughters

Tiga

Calabash

Tube

Flamin’ Fridays With DJ Pony Bad Habitat Group

Crown Room

Dubstep W/ Ronin

Dunes

Kickit Club

Fez Ballroom

Shut Up and Dance

Goodfoot

DJ Aquaman

Holocene

ROCKBOX, Matt Nelkin, DJ Kez, Dundiggy

Tiga

DJ Vs. Nature

Tube

Townbombing

DJ Rat Creeps Heavy Metal Ladies Night: DJ Nate C

TUESDAY NOV. 24 C.C. Slaughters

Total Request With DJ Pony

Calabash

Harlem Nights

Crown Room

See You Next Tuesday

East End

DJ Mannee

Tiga Maxx Bass & Musique Plastique

¥ #//23 "2%7).' #/-0!.9 '/,$%. #/,/2!$/ s "%%2 s &734 WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

37

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THE HIDDEN CAMERAS

A BETTER ’STACHE: Of the scant all-ages venues in Portland, there’s only one (I think) that sells mustache wax. Sitting in a comfy nook almost directly across the street from Cleveland High School and next to the vegan-friendly Chaos Cafe, The Parlour (2628 SE Powell, parlourpdx.com) bills itself as a “worker-owned venue with a sweet ’stache.” And it’s weird quirks like this that make it a potentially viable option in a town that’s starved for a new place that will let the kids play. The one problem? The space lacks a sound system that can adequately project non-acoustic music. It’s a small nit to pick considering that the rest of the operation is first-class. The Parlour is almost more cafe than club, and the intimate feel is unmistakable.

Pints of a hoppy Full Sail IPA are on tap for $4, and a recent visit showed an excellent selection of bottled microbrews, including a beer from Colorado appropriately titled “Hazed & Confused,” which goes down nicely with a vegan molasses cookie. The whole space is definitely going for a relaxed atmosphere, even going so far as to offer “herbal ethnobotanicals” not unlike the ones highlighted in a recent WW cover story. In fact, one patron even ordered a glass of kombucha. Fermented tea with your rock music? Let’s hope this place can make it, mustache and all. MI CHA EL MA N N HEI MER.

BLUESY GARAGE FOLK FROM SEATTLE’S

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HIP SWIVELING DANCE FLOOR FILLING BRAZILIAN PARTY MUSIC

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SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22 •

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NYLON WINTER TOUR FEATURING DYNAMIC DANCE-ROCK FROM UK UPSTARTS

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NEW SHOWS GOING ON SALE

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38

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

ALADDIN THEATER 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694 ARTISTERY 4315 SE Division St., 803-5942 ASH STREET SALOON 225 SW Ash St., 226-0430 BACKSPACE 115 NW 5th Ave., 248-2900 BERBATI’S PAN 231 SW Ankeny St., 248-4579 BLUE MONK 3341 SE Belmont St., 595-0575 BRANX 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683 BUFFALO GAP SALOON 6835 SW Macadam Ave., 244-7111 CALABASH 835 SW 2nd Ave/Taylor., 241-5676 CROWN ROOM 205 NW 4th Ave., 222-6655 CRYSTAL BALLROOM 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047 DANTE’S 1 SW 3rd Ave., 226-6630 DOUG FIR LOUNGE 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663 DUCKETTS PUBLIC HOUSE 825 N Killingsworth St., 289-1869 DUFF’S GARAGE 1635 SE 7th Ave., 234-2337 DUNES 1905 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 493-8637 EAST END 203 SE Grand Ave., 232-0056 ELLA ST. SOCIAL CLUB 714 SW 20th Place., 241-8696

FEZ BALLROOM 316 SW 11th Ave., 221-7262 GOODFOOT 2845 SE Stark St., 239-9292 GROOVE SUITE 440 NW Glisan., 227-5494 GROUND KONTROL 511 NW Couch St., 796-9364 HAWTHORNE THEATRE 3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 233-7100 HOLOCENE 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639 JIMMY MAK’S 221 NW 10th Ave., 295-6542 KELLS 112 SW 2nd Ave., 227-4057 LAGANO LOUNGE 1435 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 664-6140 LAURELTHIRST PUBLIC HOUSE 2958 NE Glisan St., 232-1504 LOLA’S ROOM AT THE CRYSTAL BALLROOM 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047 MCMENAMINS EDGEFIELD 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale., 669-8610 MISSISSIPPI PIZZA 3552 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3231 MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895 MT. TABOR THEATER 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd., MUSIC MILLENNIUM 3158 E Burnside St., 231-8926 PLAN B 1305 SE 8th Ave., 230-9020

PRESS CLUB 2621 SE Clinton St., 233-5656 ROSELAND 8 NW 6th Ave., 219-9929 (Grill), 224-2038 (Theater) ROTTURE 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683 SATYRICON 125 NW 6th Ave., 227-0999 SLABTOWN 1033 NW 16th Ave., 223-0099 SOMEDAY LOUNGE 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030 TEAZONE AND CAMELLIA LOUNGE 510 NW 11th Ave., 221-2130 THE KNIFE SHOP 426 SW Washington St., 228-3669 THE PARLOUR 2526 SE Powell Blvd., THE WOODS 6637 SE Milwaukie Ave., 890-0408 THIRSTY LION 71 SW 2nd Ave., 222-2155 TIGA 1465 NE Prescott St., 288-5534 TIGER BAR 317 NW Broadway., 222-7297 TONIC LOUNGE 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., 238-0543 TUBE 18 NW 3rd Ave., 241-8823 TWILIGHT CAFE & BAR 1420 SE Powell Blvd., 232-3576 VALENTINE’S 232 SW Ankeny St., 248-1600 WHITE EAGLE SALOON 836 N Russell St., 282-6810 WONDER BALLROOM 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686

Never a cover!

Since 1974

NORAH JONES THE FALL

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SYRIUS JONES (FUNK ROCK) 9PM

SUN 11/22

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Offer Good OFFER GOOD Thru:12/01/09 THRU 1-1-00

this week at powell’s books 20 Brom

friday the 20th

Beautifully illustrated with haunting portraits and indelible images, Brom’s The Child Thief (Eos) is a daring novel of darkest contemporary fantasy that will haunt and exhilarate any reader who agrees to follow Peter on his desperate crusade.

7pm / Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing / 3415 SW Cedar Hills

20 Cheeky Pages Romance Book Group This month we welcome author Jessa Slade to our discussion of her book Seduced by Shadows. Join us!

7pm / Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing / 3415 SW Cedar Hills

20 Cranioklepty

Fully illustrated with some surprising images, Colin Dickey’s Cranioklepty (Unbridled Books) is a fascinating and authoritative anthology of real after-life gothic tales about those who seek to possess the skulls of the famous dead.

7:30pm / Powell’s City of Books / 1005 W Burnside

23 Badass

monday the 23rd

Ben Thompson’s Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live (Harper) presents a collection of the most awesome historical figures to ever run screaming into battle. Thompson will be joined by book illustrator Matt Haley.

7:30pm / Powell’s on Hawthorne / 3723 SE Hawthorne

23 Appliqué Your Way

Appliqué Your Way (Chronicle) goes beyond traditional quiltwork with 35 sweet stitching projects from crafter extraordinaire Kayte Terry. The book is designed for easy use, with a lay-flat Wire-O binding and a handy back pocket that holds pattern and template pieces.

7:30pm / Powell’s City of Books / 1005 W Burnside

tuesday the 24th

24 Cindy Anderson

Cindy Anderson presents two new guidebooks for aficionados of local food and drink. Oregon Wine Country Guidebook highlights more than 200 wineries with an easy-to-use, fastfind formula. Portland Happy Hour Guidebook shows where to eat, drink, and be happy — and save money, too! — in an updated 2010 edition.

7:30pm / Powell’s City of Books / 1005 W Burnside

wednesday the 25th

25 Classics Book Group

This month we meet to discuss Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Join us!

7pm / Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing / 3415 SW Cedar Hills

25 Sarah Baker Munro

Timberline Lodge — the Oregon icon on Mount Hood — is one the few 20th-century American buildings of its size constructed and furnished entirely by hand. Richly illustrated with historical photos and stunning new color photography, Timberline Lodge (Timber Press) includes biographical sketches of nearly 60 artists and describes more than 250 works of art in the collection.

7:30pm / Powell’s City of Books / 1005 W Burnside

for more information visit www.powells.com/calendar or call 503.228.4651 WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

39

PERFORMANCE

NOV. 18-24 TO B I N C O P E L A N D -T U R N E R

= WW Pick. Highly recommended.

Most prices listed are for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and so-called convenience charges may apply, so it’s best to call ahead.

Editor: BEN WATERHOUSE. Stage: BEN WATERHOUSE (bwaterhouse@wweek. com). Classical: BRETT CAMPBELL (bcampbell@wweek.com). Dance: KELLY CLARKE (dance@wweek.com). TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit information at least two weeks in advance to: bwaterhouse@wweek.com.

STAGE Antiques Improv Show

[IMPROV] You bring your white elephants to the Brody ensemble, and they make up appraisals and histories for them. The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 224-2227. 8 pm Saturdays.

Closes Dec. 5. $7-$10.

Carl Banks

[STAND-UP COMEDY] Banks is described by just about everyone as “high-energy.” He makes funny noises, yells a lot and mocks gays, women and Alaskans in an almost amusing sort of way. Harvey’s Comedy Club, 436 NW 6th Ave., 241-0338. 8 pm Thursday, 7:30 and 10 pm Friday, 5, 7:30 and 10 pm Saturday, 7 pm Sunday. $15.

Ben Franklin: Unplugged

One morning, while shaving, monologuist Josh Kornbluth realizes he has lost enough hair and gained enough girth to resemble the man on the hundred-dollar bill and, at the urging of a particularly forceful aunt, considers creating a Franklin-centric stage show. He really gets interested in Franklin’s story only after he discovers ol’ Ben had an illegitimate son, William Franklin, who was, contrary to his father’s wishes, the colonial governor of New Jersey. It’s not long before Kornbluth finds himself struggling to sort through academic rivalries, popular myth and Franklin’s own selfaggrandizement. Along the way he meets a mildly crazy Franklin scholar, gallivants around Manhattan in a Franklin costume, and gets revenge on Yale University. BEN WATERHOUSE. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm TuesdaysSaturdays, 2 pm Sunday. Closes Nov. 22. $24-$45, $20 day-of-show rush tickets available.

Bingo With the Indians

Portland Playhouse presents Pulitzer finalist Adam Rapp’s play about a desperate theater company’s fundraising scheme—stealing the take of a church bingo game—that doesn’t end well. Tim True directs. The Church, 602 NE Prescott St., 205-0715. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays.

Closes Dec. 13. $14-$19.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Why wait to expose the younger set to an adult world of unbridled marketing that sucks in a poor child to hope for his “Golden Ticket” reward while avaricious kids cash in easily?

There’s a happy ending eventually in this 1964 Roald Dahl children’s tale about empathetic Charlie and four very different brats lucky enough to win a trip inside Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. And this production by Oregon Children’s Theatre generates a lot of giggles along the way to that end. The show is cleverly staged and darkly lit to convey the mysteries and dangers lurking in Wonka’s chocolate factory, without being too scary for young children. The play is too wordy in spots for kids 5 and younger, but there are enough sight gags and singalongs to get them through. HENRY AND BEN STERN. Newmark Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 228-9571. 2 and 5 pm Saturday, 2 pm Sunday.

Closes Nov. 2121. $13-$24.

Everyone Who Looks Like You

In my June review of the work-inprogress production of this pastiche of family life by Hand2Mouth Theatre, I advised readers to see the show with their siblings. I take it back. The current version of the work, which the company will tour to New York in January, is stripped of schmaltz, portraying family just as it is: the people to whom you happen to be related,

40

who made you who you are, who loved you more and caused you more pain than anyone else ever could, and whom you will one day inevitably become. The material is drawn from the memories of the cast and crew and informed by interviews with one another’s parents and siblings: the time Mom came home with a terrible perm, the time the parents bungled a speech about the ills of masturbation, the time a sibling stormed out of the house and vanished for five years.

BEN WATERHOUSE. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., boxofficetickets. com. 8 pm Thursday-Sunday. Closes Nov. 22. $12-$15.

Fat & Sassy II: One Size Fits

Have you ever wished you could recover an hour or two of your life?

Sitting in the audience of BroadArts Theatre’s production about overweight women who thunder around either romanticizing or demonizing food will make you long for the blissful life you just put on hold. While the cast has an admirable energy, the desperate grabs for chocolate bars and Krispy Kremes are not entertaining. Instead of examining the emotional struggles of overeaters, the deceitfulness of the weight-loss industry, or the superficiality of society, cheap, outdated humor simplifies the issues and reaffirms stereotypes of heftier people. SASHA INGBER. Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45th Ave., broadarts.org. 8 pm Thursday-Friday. 8 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday at Urban Grind East, 2214 NE Oregon St. Closes Nov. 22. $10-$12.

Fool for Love

Chris Harder and Val Landrum, a reallife married couple, play at emotional abuse and infidelity in CoHo’s production of a lesser-known work by Sam Shepard. Eddie (Harder), a rugged, cheatin’ stunt man, has come to fetch May (Landrum), his lover of 15 years, from her squalid motel room, hoping she’ll return to live with him again in his windblown trailer. She doesn’t want to go, but she doesn’t want him to go, either. So they bicker, he pleads, she threatens to murder him, they get drunk, they fling one another against the walls, and we watch, hopelessly fascinated. So does the Old Man (Tim Stapleton), a mysterious ghost sitting onstage in a rocking chair and bad wig, sucking down whiskey. So, too, does Martin (Spencer Conway), a handsome but none-too-bright townie who shows up to court May. Seeing Harder and Landrum go at it is a bit like overhearing a couple’s role-playing fantasy, uncomfortable and awkward, but it works well for this show. BEN WATERHOUSE. The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 205-0715. 8 pm Thursday-Saturday. Closes Nov. 21. $20-$25.

The Garden of Curious

[IMPROV] The Curious Comedy ensemble performs an interactive, highly inappropriate kids’ show for grown-ups, with the characters from the company’s actual children’s production, The Curious Garden. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 11 pm Friday, Nov. 20. $5.

Hats!

What do a tutu, chocolate and bad wigs have in common? They all make an appearance in Triangle Productions’ musical about middle-aged women learning to accept life and all of its affronts. Mary Anne (Adair Chappell) is indignant over turning 50, and her mother’s “menopausal pep squad” convinces her that aging is not as bad as it looks. The singing and dancing are not exactly Broadway caliber, with the only melodious voice coming from Duchess (Shawn Price), but the others have a certain charm. One disappointment is that the actors deliver intimate mono-

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

BINGO WITH THE INDIANS logues in areas of the set where some audience members can’t see them. But the performers’ delight in inhabiting quirky roles comes through, furnishing plenty of humor—particularly for older audiences who know of and would join the Red Hat Society. SASHA INGBER. Brunish Hall, 1111 SW Broadway, tripro. org. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. Closes Nov. 22. $15-$35.

Henry IV

Northwest Classical Theatre Company presents the second half of the saga of Henry of Bolingbroke, as told by Wm. Shakespeare. Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 971-244-3740. 7 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday.

Closes Nov. 22. $15-$18.

Holidazed

Eve, launching a madcap cascade of misfortune involving a chihuahua, a vicar and panties. World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St., thirdrailrep.org.

7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Dec. 13. $15-$29.

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Tobias Andersen plays Sheridan Whiteside, a New York cultural personality who has dinner with an Ohio couple, then slips on their icy doorstep, breaks his hip, and settles down as a very unpleasant house guest.

Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays and Dec. 2; 7 pm 22, 2 pm Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 and 13. $24-$26.

Meet Your _______

Artists Rep says it has revived “by popular demand” Marc Acito and C.S. Whitcomb’s show about Susannah Mars teaching a homeless teenager the joys of Christmas. Here’s what I wrote about it in 2008: “By tackling the holidays as a feminist issue, Acito and Whitcomb do indeed find a new angle on the Christmas show, and the play does include a few moments of genuine hilarity—most notably a tense Thanksgiving with Julia’s rightwing in-laws and a yuletide drag routine by Todd Van Voris as her gay college friend. But the script gets bogged down not by Acito’s corniness (the man never met an alliterative quip he didn’t like) but by the writers’ refusal to jettison the right Christmas tropes. Why, if you want to escape the shadow of Scrooge, do you include a cautionary ghost? The saccharine supernatural scenes derail the otherwise well-paced comedy.” Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 241-1278. 7:30 pm WednesdaysSaturdays, 2 and 7:30 pm Sundays.

Closes Dec. 20. $20-$47.

[SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION] Super Project Lab’s super-fun series of improvised sketches inspired by stories told by notable Portlanders returns for one weekend. “Notable” is maybe too strong a term: Friday it’s “Meet Your Mad Men” with Jerry Ketel and Kelly Baker, and Saturday is “Meet Your Critic” with Oregonian music writer Ryan White and yours truly. A teaser: My stories all involve emus. BEN WATERHOUSE. Winningstad Theatre, Portland Center for Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, superprojectlab.com. 8 pm FridaySaturday, Nov. 20-21. $12.

Hopeless

Curious Comedy invites the audience to take the stage for team comedy games. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 8 pm Thursdays. $5.

Melanya Helene revives her onewoman show derived from the writings of American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön, which ran to largely positive reviews in June. The Brooklyn Bay, 1825 SE Franklin St., Bay K, 772-4005.

8 pm Friday-Saturday, 3 pm Sunday.

Closes Nov. 22. $12-$15.

Keep Portland Funny

[STAND-UP COMEDY] Cheap laughs with Richard Bain, Virginia Jones, Jim Willig, Phil Schallberger and Jimmy Newstetter. Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington St., 228-3669. 8 pm Wednesday, Nov. 18. $5.

The Lying Kind

Third Rail Rep wishes the world an unhappy Christmas with this yuletide farce by English provocateur Anthony Neilson. A pair of bobbies lie to an elderly couple on Christmas

Nosferatu

Atomic Arts, the group that performed the Star Trek episode “Amok Time” at Woodlawn Park over the summer, reenacts the 1922 silent film that spawned the vampire movie genre.

Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 927 5699. 10 pm Friday-Saturday.

Closes Nov. 21. $15.

Open Court

PHAME Academy Winter Gala

[FUNDRAISER] The 25-year-old nonprofit that creates theater with developmentally disabled adults holds its annual music-and-hors-d’oeuvres party and silent auction. Acadian Ballroom, 1829 NE Alberta St., 546-6800. 4-7 pm Sunday, Nov. 22. $45.

Rumpelstiltskin

[NEW REVIEW] This tale told in puppetry of what befalls a maiden who cuts a deal with a dwarf to spin straw into gold will make you chuckle if you’re an adult and enthrall your children enough to keep them in their seats. The Grimms fairy tale has a couple of scary moments that might

make kids 5 and younger grab an adult’s elbow. But Tears of Joy puppeteers Aaron Lathrop and Kathleen Reid are strong performers who carry the show with a combination of clever accents and energy.

Make sure to arrive early enough so your kids can cut out paper puppets in the lobby. And plan to stay after the show so your children can ask questions of the oh-so-patient puppeteers. HENRY AND BEN STERN. Winningstad Theatre, Portland Center for Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 11 am Saturdays, 2 and 4 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 29. $14-$16.

We Bombed in New Haven

Third Eye Theatre presents a 1968 play

by Joseph Heller, author of Catch22. The Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 970-8874. 8 pm Thursday-Saturday. Closes Nov. 21. $10-$12.

Winter Wonderettes

A Christmas revue set at a 1968 holiday party at a hardware store. It’s Broadway Rose, so you can count on phenomenal singing. Broadway Rose New Stage Theatre, 12850 SW Grant Ave., 620-5262. 7:30 pm ThursdaysSaturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Dec. 20. $20-$30.

CLASSICAL La Stella Baroque

The city’s fledgling Baroque music ensemble comprises local early music experts who’ve been impressive in various other settings, including Portland Baroque Orchestra. Violinist Mary Rowell, Zoe Tokar on recorder, Max Fuller, baroque cello and bass viola da gamba, and Hideki Yamaya on theorbo, will perform smaller-scale gems by Telemann (a cantata featuring soprano Irene Weldon) and Vivaldi, as well as by should-be-better-known earlier composers Dario Castello and Solomon Rossi. First Presbyterian Church, 1200 SW Alder St., 228-7331. 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 22. $8-$10.

Oregon Symphony

After a stretch of—take your pick—audience broadening, innovative crossover/ crass sellout programming (acrobats! video game music and projections! washed up rockers!), the orchestra returns to—take your pick—traditional/ stodgy actual classical music featuring its own fine musicians in overtures by Berlioz and Mendelssohn. They will also perform two works surprisingly new to the band: Mozart’s less often heard yet still charming Sinfonia Concertante (this one featuring wind soloists), and a welcome 20th-century piece, 93-year-

CONT. on page 42

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NOV. 18-24

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

RevWWAdA.pdf Runs Nov. 18, 2009

Revalia, Oregon Repertory Singers, Pacific Youth Choir, University of Oregon Chamber Choir, Unistus

During the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the tiny, powerless Baltic states maintained a kind of psychological resistance through choral music. Drawing on a long tradition of sacred and folk vocal music, choirs, particularly in Estonia, have maintained a vital creative connection to the community, and continue to be a powerful outlet for new music. One of the finest is Revalia, led by renowned conductor Hirvo Surva. Abetted by local vocals, they’ll sing rarely heard (hereabouts, at least) contemporary sounds from the Baltics and Scandinavia, including the austerely beautiful music of the great contemporary Estonian composer Veljo Tormis. First United Methodist Church, 1838 SW Jefferson St., 541346-3766. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Nov. 18. $8-$12.

Sound-Minds Fortress, Travis Johns, Scott Stobbe and Ensemble

San Francisco-based Johns wields electric bass and laptop to create dark, static, sometimes ominous electronic soundscapes. PSU student Stobbe’s guitar-centric compositions draw on Asian and East European influences. Other than that they play strings and harmonium, we don’t know exactly what SoundMinds Fortress sounds like because local musicians Mary Sutton, Warren Lee and Gabriel Will just formed it. That’s why these Portland New Music Society concerts are so valuable—they give us a chance to hear homegrown new music just as it’s sprouting. Enterbeing, 1603 NE Alberta St., 808-0385. 8 pm Thursday, Nov. 19. $5.

DANCE Lamentatio

The eyes will focus on the dancers and multimedia elements, but the excellent Portland composer Jack Gabel’s new score will tantalize audiences’ ears. A sequel of sorts to the Laska Dancers’ previous music-theater-dance-current events piece, the searing The Fall ‘01, Lamentatio combines voices and cellos (conducted by Keith Clark) in music. It takes as sources revenue figures from the five largest U.S. military contractors, a setting of soldier-poet (and former Oregonian) Brian Turner’s

“Eulogy,” about a soldier’s death he witnessed during the second Iraq war, isotope numbers of depleted uranium, The Odyssey and more. Composers from Bach to Shostakovich have done this kind musical encoding for centuries, and, as with Jack Gabel, have proved that emotional commitment invigorates rather than impedes their musical vision. When audiences complain—too often accurately—that contemporary art doesn’t reflect real world, hereand-now concerns, it’s great to see justified passion transformed into urgent, compelling art. Don’t miss this American premiere. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 800-7577384. 8 pm Wednesday-Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 18-22. $15-$20.

Chronos/Kairos

The new BodyVox retrospective is a strikingly accessible show. Like a children’s TV program, it is easy to follow along and feel as though one “gets it,” even with no dance background. Introducing dance to a wider audience is a notable goal, except when the dance in question seems to rely on not particularly amusing humor to cover up poorly executed movement. Since Chronos/Kairos re-stages works from BodyVox’s entire 12-year career, it was inevitable that some of the dancers would be more familiar with certain pieces than others.

It showed. At times, newer dancers seemed so unfamiliar with the choreography that it was uncomfortable to watch. The brand new piece Shed was one of the strongest pieces of the evening. Lighthearted and playful, it showed off the company’s strong classical training along with just enough story line to be uniquely BodyVox. If only the entire show had been the same. KATE WILLIAMS. BodyVox Dance Center, 1201 NW 17th Ave, 229-0627, bodyvox.com.

7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, Nov. 19-Dec. 5, 2 pm Saturday, Nov. 28 and Dec 5. $36-$48.

ExpecTUtion

Katrina O’Brien isn’t just playing with what her dancers do onstage— she’s tearing up the surface they move on…with help from Montavilla’s Mr. Plywood. The local choreographer worked with seven carpenters to construct a massive, skateboard-parklike floor for her curiously named new work ExpecTUtion.

A flock of movers will explore the 12-foot dips, rises and slopes of their new world—answering the question of how “our actions depend on the delivery of what we do or do not expect” in the process. Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N Interstate Ave., pdxcc.net. 8 pm Thursday-Saturday, 4 pm Sunday, Nov. 19-22. $12-$15.

Bandage a Knife

Linda Austin’s latest project, Bandage a Knife, is a wild stew of video footage, power struggles and slo-mo death scenes. It’s actually a collaboration with experimental musician Seth Nehil, who is also hard at work developing Pacific Northwest College of Art’s first sound art class. The inspiration is Seijun Suzuki’s absurdist 1967 cult Japanese yakuza film Branded to Kill—a flick in which contract killers shoot bullets through water pipes and rice is used as a sex aid.

Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., 777-1907. 7 pm Thursday, 7 and 9 pm Friday-Saturday, 7 pm Sunday, Nov. 19-22. $10-$15 sliding scale. Reservations required.

So You Think You Can Dance

The best TV dance show since Solid Gold returns to Portland with a live night of modern, hip-hop, tango, salsa and Broadway pieces danced by Season 5’s crazy-talented finalists. Rose Quarter, 1401 N Wheeler Ave., comcasttix.com. 7:30 pm Friday, Nov. 20. $38.50-$56.

For more Performance listings, visit

NOV. 18-24 REVIEW

= WW Pick. Highly recommended.

C H R I S R YA N P H O T O . C O M

VISUAL ARTS

By RICHARD SPEER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit show information—including opening and closing dates, gallery address and phone number—at least two weeks in advance to: Visual Arts, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: rspeer@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115. Emailed press releases must be backed up by a faxed or printed copy.

SPECIAL EVENT Homeschool Art Shop

Owning kickass art is great. Coming up with the cash to buy it is the tricky part. Enter Homeschool Art Shop, the brainchild of artist/galleristas Jacqueline Mention, Jessica Hirsch and Emma Lipp. The trio wants to provide up-and-coming collectors with affordable art by up-and-coming artists.

Some of these 25 artists are PDXbased, some from out of town, and all will be in Homeschool’s self-described “coming-out party” group show at Ace Cleaners. Prices start at $5 and top off at $150. Is that affordable enough for you? Ace Cleaners, 403 SW 10th Ave., homeschoolartshop.com. 6 pm Thursday, Nov. 19. Admission free.

NOW SHOWING Speakeasy

Speakeasy is John Graeter and Chris Haberman’s collaboration, a lively interspersion of text and image. Graeter takes a calligraphic approach to alphanumeric characters. He is interested more in text’s form than its content.

Haberman’s well-developed figurative style uses words to add insight into the psychology of his subjects. It’s gratifying to see the pieces each artist completed on his own counterposed against the works they created together. While each artist has considerable merits, their fusion is greater than the sum of their parts. ANKA, 325 NW 6th Ave., 224-5721.

Live performance 7-10 pm Friday, Nov. 20. Regular show closes Nov. 30.

Jim Riswold

Art People and a Cow is Jim Riswold’s affectionate skewering of the art world’s sacred cows. He mocks Damien Hirst’s dissected formaldehydic cows by photographing a mold of Hirst’s face filled with hamburger. The piece’s title: Hirst Tartare. But this outing, in addition to his witty titles, he has gilded the lily by over-explaining his in-jokes via explanatory texts, which accompany each title. A former marketing guru for Wieden & Kennedy, Riswold has a gift for glib prose, but in this case, he should have trusted the viewer and let the images speak for themselves. Augen DeSoto, 716 NW Davis St., 546-5056. Closes Nov. 28.

Giles Bettison

Australian glass phenom Giles Bettison is no longer a wunderkind—he is a mid-career master. Twisting, bending and dissolving like a hundred surrealist clocks, his glass cubes congeal into vessels that evoke lace and woven tapestry. Bullseye, 300 NW 13th Ave., 2270222. Closes Dec. 29.

Ted Katz

Ted Katz spent two months in Ireland and North Yorkshire earlier this year.

When he came back to Portland, he couldn’t get the moody British landscape out of his head. It haunts his luxuriant show, Never Trust a Full Moon, in abstracted forms that play variations on the theme of land and sky bisected by the horizon line. His Another Year Gone By is a hymn to turquoise atmospherics—vaporous mists rising from the ecru fields below. Katz never met a color or texture he didn’t want to bask in, bathe in, and make sweet love to. Lucky for him, and for us. Butters, 520 NW Davis St., 248-9378. Closes Nov. 28.

Queer Gaze

The show’s strongest works bypass its wide-open theme. Brooklyn-based Sarah Baley’s Boisroom is a Caravaggioesque tableau of shadow play and honeyed light on naked skin that makes it clear, if it ever wasn’t to begin with, that aesthetics trumps sexual politics.

Fontanelle, 205 SW Pine St., 274-7668.

Closes Nov. 28.

Alex Steckly

Alex Steckly should be on your radar.

He is one of the most gifted emerging artists in Portland today, as his self-titled debut show at Fourteen30 attests. In exceedingly elegant enamel and oil paintings, he layers luxuriant textures and patterns but has the good sense to restrict his color palette to white, with smudgy pentimenti of gray and plum buried underneath like archaeological relics. His white-on-white wooden sculptures riff on the layering motif, too, and comport themselves with a winning élan. This is one of the most exciting new talents we have seen on the local art scene in at least two years. Fourteen30 Contemporary, 1430 SE 3rd Ave., 236-1430. Closes Dec. 5.

West Coast Turnaround

Picture this: a life-sized tractor-trailer semi truck parked inside a trendy artist loft. That’s what Milepost 5 artists-inresidence Crystal Schenk and Shelby Davis have created out of two-by-fours and drywall. There’s an engaging dissonance between the idea of a monster truck, which we’re used to seeing barreling down the highway, and the materials used to make a house that is anchored into the ground. This is sure to be a memorable, gee-whiz installation—be sure to see it during its limited run. Milepost 5, 900 NE 81st Ave., No. 203, 729-3223. Open 6-10 pm Saturday, Nov. 21. Runs 6-9 pm Nov. 22-25 and Nov. 28-29. Free.

For more Visual Arts listings, visit

LI NING AT PAM

CHINA DESIGN NOW PORTLAND ART MUSEUM There is extraordinary design work being done in China, but it gets lost in the claustrophobic mess that is Portland Art Museum’s China Design Now. This show—which originated at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, traveled to Cincinnati, and is ending its run in Portland— aims to showcase Chinese design in three key cities: Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. But in its rush to overwhelm the viewer in a multimedia mishmash of more than 100 designers, at every turn the exhibition propagates the worst stereotypes of Chinese Communism: authoritarian rule, overpopulation and the marginalization of the individual.

Things start out promisingly enough. Through the museum’s main entrance you glimpse, beyond red-tinted glass doors, the exhibition’s title spelled out in neon Chinese characters. The graphic simplicity of this greeting is swallowed up by the redwalled antechamber to the show, in which dozens upon dozens of black-and-white photos of Chinese designers are strung up from the ceiling like so many political prisoners. This motif—multitudes of creative thinkers whose colors and identities have been blanched out and overwhelmed by the red of the state flag—leads into an exhibition space jampacked with posters hung too close together, Unme dolls, jackets and dresses and tennis shoes, architectural maquettes, and computers with Chinese websites on the browsers. There’s a horrifically garish bar and barstool ensemble by a trio of Shanghai designers, a 2003 art-house film by Han Jiaying, and

PAM’s new show unwittingly plays into the worst stereotypes of Communist China.

an entire stairwell wallpapered with magazine covers. Hell, there’s everything except the torch from the Beijing Olympics. Oh, sorry, there’s that, too.

The element that puts the whole enterprise over the top (which is saying something) is the promotional video extolling Terminal Three of the Beijing International Airport. With its glacially dispassionate narration by a British voice-over actress, the video transports you to the World’s Fair pavilion from hell, or to some quasi-futuristic spaceport from Gattaca or Minority Report. This misguided, “more-is-more” approach appears to be the fault of local faves Ziba Design, which oversaw the layout and clearly strayed from the elegance that is the hallmark of its projects.

What is lost in this horrific melee is the truism that design, no matter how far-flung its reach, is predicated on one individual’s response to one product. A designer who understands that is Lin Jin, whose immaculate tea set is nearly lost in all the fuss. The work’s biomorphic forms and swanlike cream pitcher engage not only your eyes and mind, but your mind’s hand as well. Looking at it, you feel yourself grasping, embracing its curves; you imagine it performing its task with utility and grace. The designer’s concept for the piece is posted alongside: “I was imagining myself as the tea flowing inside the pot.” Ah. If only there were more moments of such quietude, poetry and insight in this exhausting exercise in PR bluster. RICHARD SPEER. GO: China Design Now at the Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave., 226-2811. Closes Jan. 17.

TRASHED CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF WILLAMETTE WEEK Chris Haberman

title: The Voodoo That You Do (The Scandal of Tres Shannon) medium: Acrylic and Ink $130

Framing Sponsored by:

See it at Backspace through November 30 WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

43

WORDS

NOV. 18-24

= WW Pick. Highly recommended.

By INDIA NICHOLAS. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit lecture or reading information at least two weeks in advance to: WORDS, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: words@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.

WEDNESDAY NOV. 18 Al Gore

dish: reviews, events & gut reactions Page 25

Finally, our favorite almost-president, Al Gore, arrives to lecture on his new book, Our Choice. Essentially a sequel to his bestseller An Inconvenient Truth, Gore will (again) attempt to inspire and educate about the climate crisis that threatens the future of human civilization. If Portlanders can rally 1,000 people in Pioneer Square for the cause as they did last month, it’s guaranteed Gore will have a packed house. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 248-4335. 7:30 pm.

Tickets available at ticketmaster.com. $45 & $65 (All tickets include a copy of the new book.).

THURSDAY NOV. 19 Back Fence PDX: Get Me Outta Here

A half-dozen brave storytellers, from political blogger Karol Collymore and “Beer Brewer & Navy Explosives Builder” Sara Atkeson to former DJ Fatboy Roberts and human beatbox Fogatron, will take the stage at Back Fence this month to share their (true!) tales based on the theme “Get Me Outta Here.” Free cupcakes from Saint Cupcake will satisfy your sweet tooth while the stories keep you entertained. Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St., 223-4527. Doors open at 6 pm, show begins at 7:30 pm. $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

Tickets at brownpapertickets.com.

Mary Karr

In a follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir The Liars’ Club, Karr chronicles her tough transition from a devastating childhood into a rocky adulthood as an alcoholic young mother in LIT: A Memoir.

Karr is known for her great public-speaking skills; don’t miss an author who can keep your attention at the podium as well as on the page. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.

FRIDAY NOV. 20 Mortified Portland

The organizers of Mortified are back for another cringe-worthy show.

Try not to blush as your fellow Portlanders take turns sharing their journal entries, love letters, sketches and home movies they made in adolescence. Mega-embarrassment and laughs ensue. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to enter that “Ode to Bobby Little” you wrote when you were 11 into next year’s show. Maybe.

Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 8:30 pm. $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

SATURDAY NOV. 21 Arty Words Vol. 3: Curtis White

White, the author of Requiem and The Middle Mind, comes to Portland courtesy of Tin House and Disjecta to present The Barbaric Heart: Faith, Money and the Crisis of Nature. Music will be played, beer will be sold and the climate crisis will be discussed.

Could this be a more laid-back alternative to Al Gore at the Keller? It’s cheaper, at least. Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate Ave., 286-9449. 7 pm. $8.

MONDAY NOV. 23 Amy Goodman

Goodman, the host of Democracy Now!, a program that airs on nearly 800 radio stations worldwide, comes to town to present her new book, Breaking the Sound Barrier, as a benefit for KBOO Community Radio.

The book explores how independent journalism by ordinary citizens can be the best kind of reporting. Hmmmm.

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WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

Come get inspired to interview your neighbors. Bagdad Theater & Pub, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 236-9234.

7:30 pm. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com. $10 general admission, $25 reserved seating.

Jennie Shortridge

Shortridge’s fourth novel, When She Flew, tells the story of a straightshooting police officer who discovers an Iraq vet and his young daughter living off the radar in the woods of Oregon. The plot is based on the bizarre true story of the father and daughter who were discovered in Forest Park in 2005. Art

imitating Portland’s reality. Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Highway, 246-0053. 7:30 pm. Free.

TUESDAY NOV. 24 Jesse Katz

Portland-born author Katz will read from his new memoir, The Opposite Field, a story of his time as baseball commissioner for his son’s Little League, which consisted of mostly Latino kids in a largely Asian suburb of L.A. Bonding with your son while exploring diversity seems to be a theme this month (see The Blind Side, page 45). Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726. 7 pm. Free.

For more Words listings, visit

REVIEW

PAUL MCCARTNEY: A LIFE PETER AMES CARLIN Does the world really need another book about Paul McCartney? By now the story of the Beatles has been picked apart from every conceivable angle, from Peter Brown’s insider’s tale The Love You Make to Bob Spitz’s tome The Beatles: The Biography, which, at an intimidating 992 pages, answers just about every question you could ever have about the Fab Four.

A McCartney bio takes superfans a But Oregonian scribe and devout step beyond the Beatles.

McCartney fan Peter Ames Carlin obviously thinks there’s something left to tell, and Paul McCartney: A Life (Touchstone, 384 pages, $26) will appeal to anyone who still puts on “Silly Little Love Songs” and dances around their room in glee.

A Life begins with McCartney as a young lad and leads all the way up to Sir Paul’s resistance to releasing the Beatles’ music on iTunes. It’s quite an undertaking to tackle a figure so large in such a constrained space, and A Life feels sharply edited in a few too many places. Ames Carlin casts the whole Beatles story in an idyllic light, glossing over many key moments with only a brief mention. That famous backstage scene where Bob Dylan gives the young lads their first taste of marijuana? The accidental drug overdose that claimed the life of manager Brian Epstein? Ames Carlin almost assumes we already know these stories. A Life is clearly written for a pop music scholar instead of a McCartney novice.

The best parts, then, are the stories we usually never hear about—the moments of failure that reveal that even the world’s biggest pop star dealt with crippling moments of insecurity and self-doubt. Let’s put it this way: I wish Ames Carlin dedicated more time to everything after McCartney grew the mullet than to perpetuating the Beatles’ myth. The first 10 years of post-LennonMcCartney outfit Wings seems to fly by quicker than “Band On the Run,” as McCartney jets from exotic locale (a castle in the Scottish countryside, Nigeria, the Virgin Islands) to exotic locale, recording albums with an interchangeable lineup behind the core of Denny Laine and wife Linda McCartney.

Ames Carlin hits the mark in detailing Paul and Linda’s tidy family life and the musician’s struggle to adapt to professional failure. Unsure of where his muse was leading him in the mid-’80s, McCartney produced two total flops: the atrocious day-in-thelife spoof film Give My Regards to Broad Street and 1986’s Press to Play, which unfortunately found McCartney dabbling in cheeky period production and bad synthesizer sounds. It’s this section that’s most intriguing. But with more than half of A Life acting as a quick-hits take on the Beatles’ rise to fame, you end up wishing the author would leave behind the lore and dive into the life we rarely hear about. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. GO: Peter Ames Carlin celebrates the release of A Life, and Nick Jaina, Matt Sheehy and Jim Brunberg perform a musical tribute at Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 753-4473. 8 pm Wednesday, Nov. 18. $7.

SCREEN

NOV. 18-24 REVIEW

= WW Pick. Highly recommended.

Editor: AARON MESH. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, send screening information at least two weeks in advance to Screen, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: amesh@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.

2012

A partial list of things destroyed in Roland Emmerich’s majestically shameless end-of-the-world movie 2012: Mayan-calendar cultists (suicide). A dill pickle (consumed by conspiracy theorist Woody Harrelson). John Cusack’s family home (swallowed by the San Andreas fault). The entire Los Angeles freeway system (ibid.). The city of Los Angeles proper. Yellowstone National Park (explodes into gargantuan volcanic caldera). Several airline runways, right after John Cusack’s planes take off. Woody Harrelson’s Winnebago.

Woody Harrelson (flaming fir tree).

“The vice president’s chopper went down in the ash cloud outside of Pittsburgh.” President Danny Glover’s video feed for an address to the nation—one line into the Lord’s Prayer.

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, with major fissures rupturing between the fingers of God and Adam. The whole damn Vatican. The White House (crushed by tsunami-capsized aircraft carrier the USS John F. Kennedy). President Danny Glover (“I’m comin’ home, Dorothy”). The Indus Valley, along with one symbolically important geologist (unspeakably massive tidal wave).

Much of the bow of Ark No. 4, one of the floating vessels secretly constructed in Nepal by the world’s governments to save a select remnant from the global flooding (it scrapes some glaciers). The rest of the world.

A partial list of things not destroyed in 2012: Hope. John Cusack. A cute lap dog. PG-13. AARON MESH. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, Cinetopia, City Center, Cornelius, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Oak Grove, Sandy, Sherwood, St. Johns Twin Cinema-Pub, Tigard, Wilsonville.

Amelia

Well, golly, isn’t this a disastrous old tin whistle of a magic lantern show? Dusty as a hangar exhibit, Mira Nair’s biopic of Amelia Earhart gets lost in the first five minutes, and never threatens to return. Every line of dialogue has the creak of exposition, and usually competent actors (Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor) enunciate as if they’re trying to recall how humans speak.

Initially this registers as an intentional throwback to early Hollywood sound productions, but it quickly begins to feel like general uncoordination. Still, if you’re in the mood for an old-fashioned night-flying picture…well, Jimmy Stewart in The Spirit of St. Louis is pretty good. If you’re in the mood for an Old Fashioned, don’t you dare: Amelia has an odd subtext about the ruinous influence of plonk. (Co-pilot Fred Noonan does not come off well in this regard.) As Earhart, Hilary Swank gamely embodies toothy Kansan pluck—even waving hello to a flock of sheep—but Amy Adams played this role with far more sex, energy and humor in the Night at the Museum sequel. There’s not much either actress could have done with this script by Ron Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan: It never gives the heroine any motivation, or even a childhood, choosing instead to indulge an obsession with the young Gore Vidal. (In case you’re wondering if the kid is Gore Vidal, his name is conspicuously mentioned every time he shows up.) In the last 15 minutes, which are the best because there’s a fleeting signal that something might happen, Earhart keeps checking her watch, an action I could identify with.

The movie has no thrill, no mystery, no propulsion. Thud. PG. AARON MESH. City Center, Tigard.

NEW

Black Dynamite

[ONE WEEK ONLY] Michael Jai White and Arsenio Hall star in a note-fornote parodic homage (not a spoof, jive turkey!) of ‘70s blaxploitation flicks like Disco Godfather and TNT Jackson. Not screened for critics, sadly; look for a review on wweek.com. R. Clinton Street Theater. 7 and 9 pm Friday-Thursday, Nov. 20-26. Clinton Street Theater.

Coco Before Chanel

Audrey Tautou plays the fashionista in a biopic. WW did not attend the screening; look for a review on wweek. com. PG-13. Fox Tower, Hollywood Theatre, Lake Twin.

Couples Retreat

A hymn to settling for whatever’s around: a spouse you don’t like, a shot you don’t bother to frame, a joke you’ve told before. Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau star in a DOA movie about marriage therapy for the improbably well-heeled (if you’re going to get counseling, why not do it in Bora Bora bungalows that run $1,780 a night?) and immensely self-involved— fat schlubs Vaughn and Favreau must summon the internal fortitude to remain faithful to Malin Ackerman and Kristin Davis. Those poor boys.

However do they cope? They’ve roped in buddy Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story) to direct, and I wanted to shoot my eye out. The guy shot on location in French Polynesia and managed to make it look like a soundstage. The comedic scaffold is the same one trotted out by Adam Sandler’s Anger Management: Use a grueling regimen of stupid exercises to substitute for writing any actual characters. One by one, each of four rotten marriages is saved for no reason other than the movie’s fear of troubling a complacent audience. Here’s Vaughn exhorting Favreau to save his union: “You’re not going to have anybody to go to Applebee’s with you.” Could there be a stronger case for divorce?

PG-13. AARON MESH. Cinema 99, City Center, Evergreen, Forest, Sherwood.

Crude

A robot child saves the world, just like in Osamu Tezuka’s comic. PG. Eastport, Evergreen.

Documentarian Joe Berlinger (Brother’s Keeper, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) has taken his vérité approach and applied it to the environmental catastrophe of South American oil drilling. Crude examines the petroleum spillage in Ecuador (a slop 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez wreck, with much of the oil pooled under people’s homes and leaked into the water supply) and the ongoing lawsuit that will determine whether Chevron is legally responsible for thousands of dead babies and cancer cases. But Berlinger doesn’t harangue.

Instead, he documents the process of activism, showing the slightly unseemly effort by environmentalists to recruit celebrities (Sting’s wife is a big catch) and manipulate media coverage. And he does something remarkable in an era of cinematic agitprop: He gives both sides in the trial screen time to make their case. They present their arguments at the scene of the crime, in a series of field inspections where lawyers—including a zealous first-time plaintiff’s attorney, Pablo Fajardo— stand astride the stench of oil pits, deriding each other in Spanish above the din of jungle insects. In Crude’s most profound sequence, Berlinger updates a Michael Moore technique from Roger & Me, but to far more nuanced effect: He layers both sides’ oratory over images of a Cofán woman taking her daughter on the weekly bus journey for cancer treatments.

Whatever the verdict, the people of Ecuador have already lost. AARON MESH. Hollywood Theatre.

The Baker

Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Astro Boy

A hitman lies low in a Welsh bakery.

It’s a comedy with the chap who plays Dumbledore. Living Room Theaters.

Only a Grinch would hate on a reasonably faithful update of A Christmas Carol, but Disney gets a big “bah humbug” for unleashing Jim Carrey as

CONT. on page 46

UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY: Gabourey Sidibe (left) and Mo’Nique, holding Quishay Powell.

BIG TROUBLE

PRECIOUS IS A RAW STORY OF SURVIVAL. BUT IT FORGETS THE SURVIVOR.

BY AA R ON MESH

amesh@wweek.com

Late in the movie Precious: Based on the Novel Push

by Sapphire, the heroine’s saintly alternative-school teacher moderates a discussion of a book. “What do I mean,” she asks her class of troubled girls, “if I say the author describes her protagonist’s circumstances as unrelenting?” Here’s what she means: She means that Clareece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is 16 years old, weighs 350 pounds, and is pregnant with her second child—conceived, like the first, in a rape by her own father. Over the course of the movie, we will learn that Precious is illiterate, and she will learn that she is HIV-positive. In a menthol-smoky Harlem apartment, her mother, Mary (Mo’Nique), beats and molests her, force-feeding her plates of soul food to literally weigh her down. “Don’t let it get cold,” she warns, “’cause cold-ass pigs’ feet is nasty.”

Everything in Precious’ life is nasty. The movie arrives in Portland as an Oscar frontrunner (backed

by Oprah) with a vociferous backlash (deriding it as self-inflicted racism), but what you may not have heard is how much of the picture functions as a horror movie. Look how director Lee Daniels has designed that Harlem walk-up: It’s as murkily lit as a haunted house, with Victorian floral wallpaper and gothic lamps. (When Mo’Nique’s ogre of a mother pounds upstairs to batter her child, the scene fades out to the sound of yowling housecats.) Even Precious herself is a grotesquerie. I know that’s a potentially inflammatory thing to say about an obese teenage girl, and I mean no insult to Sidibe, who carries her girth with grace. But when a movie shows its heroine running down the street with a stolen bucket of fried chicken, dropping battered thighs on the sidewalk while smearing most of her face with grease, that movie is not shy about pressing its racial stereotypes beyond anything in blaxploitation pictures.

But Precious is a classy exploitation picture, and that’s a problem. Much ridicule has been lavished on the movie’s extended title (any word becomes funnier if you follow it with “Based on the Novel Push

by Sapphire”), but Daniels’ filmmaking is severely hampered by that loyalty to the book. Precious’

voice-overs tell what she’s feeling when the director should trust his actress to show it. And where the scenes at home are singular degradation, the scenes at the alternative school are just as one-note in their uplift. Precious’ teacher, a lesbian who is actually named Blu Rain (Paula Patton), exists purely as an angel of mercy, and her classroom admits none of the tensions of inner-city education examined earlier this year in The Class.

But every time I felt ready to give up on this blend of schlock and awe, Daniels delivered a moment of startling power. Precious’ fantasies of herself as a red-carpet diva are an unsettling display of the boundaries her culture places on her imagination, and the movie makes an unassailable case for the welfare system, showing how the promise of money provides a lifeline for people who would otherwise drop out of society permanently. Mo’Nique’s portrayal of malevolence is terrifying; when she holds

MUCH OF THE PICTURE WORKS AS A HORROR MOVIE. Precious’ newborn child, it seems entirely plausible that she will stub the infant with her burning cigarette. And when Daniels provides a late shot of Precious breastfeeding her baby, it transforms Sidibe’s heft into a blanket of maternal warmth that her own mother could never comprehend.

For all this, Precious is not quite a good movie: Its two halves never manage to cohere. But I see how it could serve as a uniquely cathartic one, especially to survivors of abuse. The piling on of cruelty—those “unrelenting circumstances” that threaten to make Precious a scapegoat for every variety of shame and self-hatred—eventually feels like a purging: All of this was done to us, and we won’t look away. This is never more true than in the movie’s penultimate scene, a volcanic confession by mother Mary that rips away all masks from her ravenous narcissism, decisively blocking the temptation to grant her cheap forgiveness. But something is missing from this scene, which cuts between Mo’Nique and an appalled social worker, played (subtly!) by Mariah Carey. What’s missing from this scene is Precious. The camera barely shows her reaction. In the movie’s confrontation of predation and neglect, the victim is once again neglected. Precious escapes the horror show of her world. The movie isn’t so lucky.

SEE IT: Precious is rated R. It opens Friday at Fox Tower and Lloyd Mall.

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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Get to know the 2009 Winners of the Skidmore Prize!

At this week's Friday Forum brought to you by the City Club of Portland.

The Skidmore Prize recognizes a younger generation of nonprofit leaders General Admission and coffee/tea tickets available for $5 at the door.

Fourth Floor Ballrooom The Governor Hotel 614 SW 11th Avenue Friday, Nov. 20 Door open 11:30, Program 12:15-1:15 Made possible by a grant from Momentum Market Intelligence

Fowzia Abdulle

Brandi Tuck

SCREEN

NOV. 18-24

Scrooge before the Thanksgiving turkeys go on sale. However, Robert Zemeckis’s film deserves props for presenting Charles Dickens’ tale for what it is: a ghost story of Christian guilt dripping with menace and sap.

Using his favorite toy—3D motioncapture animation—Zemeckis’s Carol finds orphan-hating proto-Republican Scrooge learning to play nice after meeting some truly frightening spirits: Scrooge’s ghostly pal Marley (Gary Oldman, also playing Bob Cratchit and, oddly, Tiny Tim) is sure to give children nightmares with his howling moans and glowing chains, while the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (played by Carrey, as are the other ghosts) rampages astride demon horses straight out of an Iron Maiden video. Yet despite the bountiful screams in literature’s first Scared Straight program, this is family entertainment, and the film falters with its cuteness. Dickens certainly didn’t envision a miniaturized Scrooge surfing on an icicle, and the Ghost of Christmas Past, a hovering candle, resembles Wall-E’s Eva with Ghost Rider’s head. Still, in spite of an overreliance of 3D projectiles and exaggerated cheer, A Christmas Carol is a mo-cap improvement on Beowulf’s Playstation aesthetic and a pleasingly familiar fable. Zemeckis even draws a fairly subtle turn from Carrey. That’s a Christmas miracle in itself. PG. AP KRYZA. Broadway, Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, City Center, Cornelius, Evergreen, Oak Grove, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville, Cinetopia, Lloyd Center, Sandy.

An Education

Not since Rolf the friendly Nazi informed Liesl in The Sound of Music that because she was 16 going on 17, he’d take care of her, has a movie contemplated the compromise of a minor with as much good cheer as does An Education. The movie has been lifted by Danish director Lone Scherfig and pop writer Nick Hornby from the memoirs of British journalist Lynn Barber, who in 1961 was herself 16 going on 17, and seduced by a suitor twice her age. Mulligan faultlessly plays the heroine, here called Jenny, as a girl whose worst affectations—snobbery toward her schoolmates, ridicule of her parents, and a tendency to drop French bons mots into everyday conversation—are endearing because they are being tried on for the first time, and tentatively. This is also her attitude, at first, toward David (Peter Sarsgaard), the man who cruises his Bristol automobile to her Twickenham bus stop and offers to give her rain-soaked cello a lift home. The movie’s dramatization of these events is funny and heartening—but praising it begs the question of how funny and heartening a movie about predation ought to be.

R. AARON MESH. City Center, Fox Tower, Hollywood Theatre, Lake Twin.

NEW

The End of the Line

A documentary addresses the crisis of overfished oceans. Look for a review at wweek.com. Living Room Theaters.

NEW The Find: Claiming Nelscott Reef

Amy Sacks

Jennifer Gilmore

[ONE NIGHT ONLY] A surfing documentary checks out the Oregon coast’s recently discovered 50-foot wave. This looks kind of amazing, actually. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Wednesday, Nov. 18.

The Fourth Kind

Follow us on:

Like some twitching critter the cat dragged in and plopped onto the doormat, The Fourth Kind produces a spiraling crisis of empathy: As hope that this moribund thing just might recover tightens into the certitude that expiration is imminent, what do you do? Kick the thing out into the weeds to die alone, or put it out of its misery with the sharp edge of a spatula? If you’re like me (God help you), you watch and do nothing and wish the poor bastard had never been born at all. Milla Jovovich and her divinely

CONT. on page 49 46

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

REVIEW

OLE MISS: Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock.

THE BLIND SIDE Surely the most odious phrase in movie marketing is “Based on a True Story.” These are the magic words with which Michael Oher, a rags-to-riches NFL draftee, becomes an excuse for Sandra Bullock to play his adoptive mother as Memphis’ most generous, least racist housewife. She kicks off her new film, The Blind Side, with a football commentary on the strategic importance of Oher’s tackle position. Narrating in a Southern accent, she makes Oher’s vocation sound positively divine. If there was more to this story than a white woman’s ego, Hollywood begs to differ.

Sandra Bullock is Hollywood. In 1994, she boarded a bus, hijacked our hearts, and hasn’t stopped hitting things since. From Speed to Miss Congeniality, she’s proven herself the last actress with marquee appeal minus special effects, but only by choosing roles that flatter her own class at the expense of everyone else. This summer, her self-produced engagement comedy, The Proposal, cast her as an uptight New York publisher falling for Ryan Reynolds and his family of rich Alaskan crudes. Then came another selfproduced vehicle, All About Steve, a hilariously incompetent ode to American egomania, as confused with eccentricity.

Now Bullock continues her well-intentioned Masque of the Red States in The Blind Side. She tries on a Tennessee twang to play Leigh Anne Tuohy: a Christian, Republican and former Ole Miss cheerleader who took a huge, poor black boy into her home and groomed him for football stardom. Football stardom at her alma mater, as it turned out. That conflict of interest is one of many the movie swiftly smooths over in worshipping the Tuohys’ color-blind Christian largesse. Charity, it seems, is next to vanity.

Bullock turns on the charm, as do country singer Tim McGraw playing her husband and Quinton Aaron playing Michael Oher himself, a gentle giant finding his voice. Filmmaker John Lee Hancock avoids maudlin excess, plodding agreeably along in the blandest biopic tradition. Our pistol-packin’ mama spurns the antiquated racism of her friends, and waits for Michael’s college recruitment offers to pour in. Welcome to The Blind Side, where there’s plenty of prideful tough love, but not a single motherly hug until Michael finally touches down at Ole Miss. Meanwhile, hints of the plantation are hard to ignore: The high-school athlete is compared to a children’s book character—“Ferdinand the Bull”— and bringing him home gives the lady of the house a bedtime thrill, like a marital aid. “Is this some kind of white guilt thing?” Bullock is asked, and remembering her participation in Crash, the answer is obvious. PG-13. ALISTAIR ROCKOFF. Sandra Bullock makes an offensive tackle.

SEE IT: The Blind Side opens Friday at Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, Cinetopia, City Center, Cornelius, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Oak Grove, Sandy, Sherwood, Tigard and Wilsonville.

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52

“★★★★ ENORMOUSLY SATISFYING

AND ASTONISHINGLY ACCOMPLISHED. IT GETS EVERYTHING RIGHT.” Dan Kois, THE WASHINGTON POST

A ROLAND EMMERICH FILM

COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS A CENTROPOLIS PRODUCTION “2012” JOHN CUSACKMUSIC CHIWETEL EJIOFOR AMANDA PEET VER AND WOODY HARRELEDITEDSON BY HARALD KLOSER AND THOMAS WANDER OLIVER PLAT CO-THANDIE NEWTON WITH DANNY GLOCOSTUME PRODUCERS VOLKER ENGEL MARC WEIGERT DESIGNER SHAY CUNLIF E BY DAVID BRENNER, A.C.E. PETER S. EL IOT EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR OF DESIGNER BARRY CHUSID PHOTOGRAPHY DEAN SEMLER ACS ASC PRODUCERS ROLAND EMMERICH UTE EMMERICH MICHAEL WIMER PRODUCED WRITTEN

BY HARALD KLOSER & ROLAND EMMERICH BY HARALD KLOSER MARK GORDON LARRY FRANCO DIRECTED

BY ROLAND EMMERICH FEATURING “TIME FOR MIRACLES” PERFORMED BY ADAM LAMBERT NOW PLAYING CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES SORRY, NO PASSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT

2 COL (3.825") X 10" = 20" WED 11/18 PORTLAND WILLAMETTE WEEK

TH NOV. 18-24

SCREEN

WILLAMETTE WEEK

3.77 x 6

11/18

WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS?

WANT TO SEND YOU AND A FRIEND TO SEE

ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 AT 10:00 AM IN TIGARD

Stop by the Willamette Week office (2220 NW Quimby St., Portland)

after 9 AM on Wednesday, November 18 to get your pass for two!

BLACK DYNAMITE curved upper lip star as the recently widowed Dr. Abigail Tyler, a comely psychologist with a clutch of sleepdeprived patients all reporting identically distressing night terrors.

Could be aliens or ghosts or God or a shared hallucination. It doesn’t really matter, because it’s all an excuse to take us on a whirlwind tour of de rigueur narrative flummery. Framed from the outset as a reenactment of real events, The Fourth Kind slaps together a whatever’s-in-the-fridge sandwich of distorted faux-doc footage, Datelinestyle 911 audio, Brechtian direct address, even a co-starring turn from director Olatunde Osunsanmi, who plays—who else?—himself. The selfreflexive hijinks, none of which are original, and all of which have been put to better use by Errol Morris and Unsolved Mysteries, amount to shoddily forged steel girders propping up a collapsing soufflé of sci-fi cliché. PG-13. CHRIS STAMM. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, Cornelius, Forest, Lloyd Mall, Sandy, Tigard.

Gentlemen Broncos

[TWO DAYS LEFT] The success of Jared and Jerusha Hess’ 2004 hit Napoleon Dynamite was found in its highly endearing characters tossing off memorable lines. The Hess duo’s third and most recent film tries so hard to repeat the Dynamite experience that one can actually see each actor wrenching to deliver lines they hope will be just as quoted by the 15-to-21-year-old demographic.

Broncos is lethargic and unamusing—an experience akin to being force-fed hours of YouTube videos that someone, somewhere thinks are funny but that you know are not.

Sardonic homeschooled novelist Benjamin (Michael Angarano) hands his science-fiction adventure Yeast Lords over for a contest at a writing convention. Benjamin’s hero, sci-fi writer and contest judge Ronald Chevalier—played with hilarious pomp by Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement—steals it.

Jared Hess found it necessary to bring to life Benjamin’s Yeast Lords in several zero-budget episodes interspliced through the movie.

To try and describe the premise beyond “nonsensical crap” is futile.

Angarano’s Benjamin is the sole likable character in the whole mess, perhaps because his exasperated expression throughout the movie echoes exactly what the audience is feeling—a sense of dismay that this movie is indeed happening to them.

It is unclear whether the Hesses’ film is designed for sci-fi nerds or to make fun of sci-fi nerds, because neither is effective. And since they try to force humor from bizarre vocal inflections and contorted faces, there’s not even anything to quote. PG-13. ALI ROTHSCHILD. Fox Tower, Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 18-19.

Humble Pie

A would-be actor gets lessons from William Baldwin. If only he had gone to Daniel! Look for a review on wweek.com. PG-13. Living Room Theaters.

NEW

In Search of Beethoven

[THREE NIGHTS ONLY] The director of In Search of Mozart goes looking for another composer. Once again, the poor guy is dead. Hollywood Theatre. Friday-Sunday, Nov. 20-22.

The Kabul to Kandahar Antiwar Progressive Fall Film Fest NEW

[ONE NIGHT ONLY, REVIVAL] The PSU Progressive Student Union continues its free screenings with A Mighty Heart, Michael Winterbottom’s very dull drama about the murder of Daniel Pearl.

Every element of A Mighty Heart is a mere precursor to the moment when a colleague says, “I’m sorry, Mariane...Daniel didn’t make it,” and Angelina Jolie begins to wail. It’s an awful sound: half animal despair, half Oscar bid. R. AARON MESH. Laughing Horse Books, 12 NE 10th Ave. 7 pm Monday, Nov. 23.

NEW Late Night Double Feature Picture Show

[ONE NIGHT ONLY, REVIVAL] The gay-bar twin-bill movie screenings continue with Best in Show followed by This Is Spinal Tap. Boxxes Video Bar, 330 SW 11th St. 8:30 pm Monday, Nov. 23.

Law Abiding Citizen

An hour into Law Abiding Citizen, action man of the hour Gerard Butler (300) says his revenge plan will “get biblical.” Talk about understatement.

Between burying people alive and castration by box cutter, Butler’s pissed-off dad mixes Old Testament carnage with the wackadoo morality of a cultist pouring poisoned KoolAid. The film works more like Saw for people who hate horror films but love human suffering. Butler’s troubled genius, Clyde, is a seemingly upstanding American who goes all Man on Fire when a pair of thugs rapes and murders his wife and young daughter. From prison, Butler exacts gruesome revenge on Philadelphia’s corrupt justice system—deal-cutting D.A. Jamie Foxx, the judge, their assistants, parking attendants—through a series of Jigsaw-style traps (Clyde’s the government-trained Rube Goldberg of inventive assassination, employing everything from robots to explosive cell phones). Foxx, continuing a smirking post-Oscar decline of Cuba Gooding proportions, spends the film figuring out how a man behind bars can wreak such havoc as the film races from murder to murder with the urgency of a Final Destination film with a sense of importance. R. AP KRYZA. Forest.

NEW

Lens on China

[TWO NIGHTS ONLY] The NW Film Center’s series continues with 24 City. Zhang Ke Jia follows up Still Life, which investigated the emotional toll taken by China’s Three Gorges Dam project, with another somber take on his country’s rapid modernization. Mussing the line between fact and fiction, Jia interweaves scripted monologues and traditional documentary interviews to fashion a hybridized history of Factory 420, a munitions plant being razed to make way for a ritzy housing development. 24 City can be chilly and distant, but with his trademark tracking shots gliding along Chengdu’s dusty streets, and his expert handle on both professional and amateur performances, Jia offers further proof that he is becoming one of the great poets of 21st-century tremors. Also screening this week: Meishi Street, a look at the citizens displaced by Olympic stadium construction. CHRIS STAMM. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. Meishi Street screens at 7 pm Thursday, Nov. 19. 24 City screens at 4:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 22.

Two winners at the screening will receive a prize pack that includes a $ 50 PETCO GIFT CARD!

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. While supplies last. No purchase necessary. THEATRE IS OVERBOOKED TO ENSURE A FULL HOUSE. A pass does not guarantee admission. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Prizes cannot be redeemed for cash and merchandise may not be substituted. This film is rated PG. Void where prohibited by law.

IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 25 DISNEY.COM/OLDDOGS

TEXT DOGS TO DISNEY (347639)

CORDIALLY INVITE YOU AND A GUEST TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Like most movies based on investigative journalism, this adaptation of Jon Ronson’s book—about the U.S. Army’s misadventures in telepathic warfare—feels like an appetizer, with the whole story left dangling tantalizingly close. But that frustration is exacerbated by The Men Who Stare at Goats, which, like the military’s secret New Earth Battalion, starts ever so promisingly before realizing it doesn’t know what to do with its powers. It’s a rare film that can treat the freeing of Iraqi prisoners of war as an afterthought, lost behind the freeing of barnyard animals. George Clooney is a psychic soldier, trained by a hippie visionary (Jeff Bridges, coasting blissfully by) to disarm America’s enemies in the nonviolent tradition of “Jesus Christ, Lao Tze Tung, Walt Disney.” The film’s revelations—all too absurd to be concocted—are gleefully staged, as interlopers led by Kevin Spacey find ways to bring colonial oppression back into the mix. But director Grant Heslov (a journeyman actor) stresses the punch lines, as if he’d been watching Coen brothers movies and thought they were only about jokes.

Goats is probably the first comedy to show the U.S. military-industrial complex torturing kittens and dachshunds, but it’s one of many War on Terror satires to join its targets in blithe dismissal of brown-skinned collateral. R. AARON MESH. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, Cinetopia, City Center, Cornelius, Evergreen, Forest, Hollywood Theatre, Lake Twin, Lloyd Center, Oak Grove, Sandy, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.

CONT. on page 50

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 AT 7:00 PM FOR A COMPLIMENTARY PASS FOR TWO VISIT THE WILLAMETTE WEEK OFFICES 2220 NW QUIMBY, PORTLAND, OR 97210 BEGINNING THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19 AFTER 9:00 AM FANTASTIC MR.FOX is rated PG for action, smoking and slang humor.

Seats are first-come, first-served basis. One pass per person. Each pass admits two. No phone calls. W hile supplies last. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Employees of all promotional partners and their agencies are not eligible.

IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 25 WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

49

SCREEN

NOV. 18-24

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON

WWEEKDOTCOM FROM THE WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER COMES

THE MOTION PICTURE EVENT O F THE YEAR

Michael Jackson’s This Is It

If nothing else, This Is It—the de facto documentary cobbled together in the wake of Jackson’s death on June 25—helps flesh out the image of Michael Jackson as an all-around creative force. It’s not the rehearsal footage showing us the giant spectacle he had planned for his 50 scheduled shows at London’s O2 Arena that does it, either. Yes, it would’ve been huge. And eye-popping. And, at points, garish and overblown. In other words, it’s what we would have expected from him.

But it’s the small moments, captured between the run-throughs and videotaped vignettes, that reveal a side of Jackson not often seen—that of the gentle taskmaster. Kenny Ortega is listed as the director of the This Is It tour and film, but it’s clear within the opening minutes, when Jackson stops “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” to instruct his backing band to make it funkier, who’s actually in charge. But the problem is these are, by design, half-performances.

Sometimes, the film comes close to capturing how electric it could have been live, such as when, during “Billie Jean,” the music drops out and Jackson launches into a classic solo routine—complete with crotchgrabbing—to the genuine giddiness of his backup dancers. It’s all a great tease, but it can only be a tease. PG. MATTHEW SINGER. 99 Indoor Twin, Broadway, Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, Evergreen, Forest, Lloyd Center, Oak Grove, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.

New York, I Love You

An omnibus Big Apple tribute inspired by Paris, Je T’Aime includes the directing debut of Natalie Portman. Not screened for Portland critics. R. Fox Tower.

NEW No.W.Here Lab: Beyond Borders V

[ONE NIGHT ONLY, CURATOR ATTENDING] Brad Butler arrives from London’s art space No.W.Here Lab with film and video works from Pakistan and India. Presented by Cinema Project. New American Art Union, 922 SE Ankeny. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Paranormal Activity

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS “THE TWILIGHT SAGA : NEW MOON” A TEMPLE HILL PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH MAVERICK/IMPRINT AND SUNSWEPT ENTERTAINMENT KRISTEN STEWART ROBERT PATTINSON TAYLOR LAUTNER ASHLEY GREENE RACHELLE LEFEVRE BILLY BURKE CASTING PETER FACINELLI ELIZABETH REASER NIKKI REED KELLAN LUTZ JACKSON RATHBONE ANNA KENDRICK MUSIC MUSIC WITH MICHAEL SHEEN AND DAKOTA FANNING BY JOSEPH MIDDLETON, C.S.A. BY ALEXANDRE DESPLAT SUPERVISOR ALEXANDRA PATSAVAS COSTUME EDITOR PRODUCTION DIRECTOR OF DESIGNER TISH MONAGHAN PETER LAMBERT DESIGNER DAVID BRISBIN PHOTOGRAPHYPRODUCED JAVIER AGUIRRESAROBE PRODUCERCO- BILL BANNERMAN EXECUTIVE

BY WYCK GODFREY KAREN ROSENFELT PRODUCERS MARTY BOWEN GREG MOORADIAN MARK MORGAN GUY OSEARY BASED ON SCREENPLAY THE NOVEL “NEW MOON” BY STEPHENIE MEYER

BY MELISSA ROSENBERG DIRECTED

BY CHRIS WEITZ

www.newmoonthemovie.com

TM & © 2009 SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes, Text Message NEWMOON and Your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)

STARTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS NO PASSES OR DISCOUNT COUPONS ACCEPTED

50

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

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Portland Willamette Wk • Wed 11/18 • 2x8’’ JobID#:

415344

In the spirit of found-footage horror (see: The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, REC), an increasingly popular mode whose weaknesses and strengths are exemplified by Paranormal Activity, I am forgoing a more traditional review. Instead, I present to you the notes I made while screening the film. “White people.” “Boring white people.” “Will they ever shut up?” “Do they ever go to work?” “Jesus Christ, where are the fucking ghosts?” “I was promised ghosts.” “They’re sleeping. This isn’t scary.” “More talking.” “Ghosts goddammit, I want ghosts!” “These actors are really good at pretending to be people I’d never want to be stuck in an elevator with.” “Finally, a fucking ghost.” “Oh shit, that was kinda scary.” “A demon, not a ghost.”

“More inane blather.” “Idea: horror film about a demon who torments deaf-mutes.” “Pretty scared now,

actually.” “Making this note because I’m too scared to look at the screen.”

“Sorta relieved that so much of this movie is just talking, as I did not bring an extra pair of underwear.”

“This is too much.” “Mommy.” “Will anyone notice if I throw up?” “I don’t like this.” “Chris, you’ll get through this.” “Wait, that was it?” “Happy I did not piss my pants.” “Kinda bummed I did not piss my pants.” R. CHRIS STAMM. Eastport, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Forest, Lloyd Mall, Oak Grove, Sandy.

Paris

The “we are all connected” movie visits the City of Light, though it’s less the French Babel than the French Love, Actually. Being Parisian, the road to romance is paved less with stuttering comedy and public singing than with loveless affairs, existential crises and staring out windows. But it’s still a fundamentally squishy thing, a star-studded cavalcade of frogs—Juliette Binoche, Fabrice Luchini, Mélanie Laurent and François Cluzet all amble past each other. The effect is pleasant, creating the impression that Paris is a hard-living urban melting pot that happens to be peppered by all the actors you’ve seen in other movies set in Paris. Albert Dupontel is best as a divorced fishmonger, while Binoche seems more sensual the more harried she becomes, and Luchini—a Rohmer vet—boogaloos to “Land of 1,000 Dances.”

But director Cédric Klapisch seems determined to spoil the fun with blasts of poor taste: A nightmare sequence is shot inside a gaudy CG architect’s rendering, while a major character’s fatal motorbike crash is filmed with a quick-cut, flying-body montage right out of a ‘70s Mondo picture. We are all connected—with the pavement. R. AARON MESH. Living Room Theaters.

Pirate Radio

Under the right circumstances, a film about a band of brazen DJs anchored in the North Sea, spinning vinyl outside U.K. jurisdiction, has all the makings of a hit. Unfortunately, Richard Curtis avoids all elements that have made previous ventures into the ’60s successful (Mad Men currently sets the standard), reducing Pirate Radio to an indulgence in clichés, with only a playlist of golden oldies to back it up. Curtis, the writer-director of such movies as Love, Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral (both at worst harmless, at best actually charming), is out of his element removed from pure romantic comedy. He ditches main man Hugh Grant for young, quiet (read: boring) Tom Sturridge, who joins Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and a cast of a dozen other rogue DJs with Johnny One-Note personalities on the boat of rock.

The music is good, but the film relies entirely on Songs That Everyone Loves. Curtis cranks the Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night” to shots of listening teen girls screaming—as if he expects a similar reaction from an audience that’s heard these songs on FM radio for 40 years. Curtis lays it all—the music, the male camaraderie, the sex jokes—on so thick

the camp dies quickly and eventually even the eye-rolling becomes tiring. Pirate Radio sinks from the beginning, substituting caricature for character and forfeiting plot to celebrate rock-’n’-roll chestnuts.

All they had to do was release the soundtrack. R. ALI ROTHSCHILD. Cedar Hills, Eastport, City Center, Evergreen, Fox Tower, Lloyd Mall.

NEW

Planet 51

Otherworldly suburbanites are horrified when a human spaceman lands in their backyard. WW did not attend the screening. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, City Center, Cornelius, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Oak Grove, Sandy, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.

Selfless

[ONE WEEK ONLY, DIRECTORS ATTENDING] The incurably protean Pander brothers, Jacob and Arnold, have published reams of graphic novels for Dark Horse Comics, painted velvet murals of giant breasts for Thatch Tiki Bar and established a presence in the local electronic music scene. So why shouldn’t they try making a movie? Selfless, their first full-length foray into narrative filmmaking, is a psychological chiller that carries the imprint of comics in at least one sense: It is wholly engrossing without making a lick of sense. The story, which both brothers wrote, concerns a Pearl District architect (Joshua Rengert) whose life is systematically destroyed by a swarthy fiend (Matt Gallini) he pisses off in a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport terminal. The draftsman’s troubles eventually incorporate identify theft, twin stewardesses and human trafficking—he never quite comprehends what’s happening to him, which is just as well, because otherwise he’d be catatonic with disbelief. No matter: Selfless compensates for its implausibility with Jacob Pander’s chic, Lynchian direction—Portland’s skyline is validated as a nightmare cityscape of gleaming postmodernism—and sheer balls: By the time one character hikes on the shoulder of I-5 from Portland to Seattle for a samurai-sword duel, the movie is kung-fu Pander. AARON MESH. Living Room Theaters.

A Serious Man

A physics professor living in a tract neighborhood as treeless and sunscorched as the Holy Land, Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is suffering the inverse afflictions of Job— while the patriarch lost his family, Larry’s relations won’t go away. His wife (Sari Lennick) wants a divorce so she can marry the astonishingly supercilious Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), but she won’t leave the house. His brother (Richard Kind) has taken up the couch and the bathroom, forever draining a sebaceous cyst. There are harassing calls from the Columbia Record Company, a student is sinisterly trying to extort his way out of a failing grade, and Larry’s tenure request is met with the ominous assurance that “you should not be worried.” Oh, Larry is worried. He senses a bottom-

NOV. 18-24

SCREEN

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD less abyss beneath his life. This is the Coen brothers’ third-straight film—after No Country for Old Men and Burn After Reading—to repeat the same gag, with increasing mirth and finality: Don’t look down, because there isn’t anything there. A Serious Man ends about 10 minutes before you expect it to, with brutal, beautiful abruptness—no one does endings like the Coens, because they understand that every story ends the same way.

Never before have they so explicitly addressed their ambivalent feelings toward Judaism (aside from The Big Lebowski’s “Moses to Sandy Koufax” speech, maybe), but they’ve been wrestling with God a long time, and they know his moves. R. AARON MESH. Fox Tower, CineMagic.

Treasures from the UCLA Film and Television Archive NEW

[THREE NIGHTS ONLY] The NW Film Center unveils prints from UCLA’s vast collection. The series kicks off with Gena Rowland’s fierce performance in John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence (7 pm Friday, Nov. 20), but we’re most excited about seeing a print of The Prowler (7 pm Saturday, Nov. 21), the L.A. crooked-policeman noir James Ellroy called “a masterpiece of sexual creepiness, institutional corruption and suffocating, ugly passion.” Oh hells yes. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. See Movie Times for additional showings.

NEW

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

You mean to tell us there’s a movie about vampires fighting werewolves, and they’re all hot teenagers?

Nobody will be interested in this.

Not screened by WW press deadlines; look for a review on wweek. com. PG-13. Broadway, Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, Cinetopia, City Center, Cornelius, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Moreland, Oak Grove, Roseway, Sandy, Sherwood, St. Johns Twin Cinema-Pub, Tigard, Wilsonville.

(Untitled)

A very restricted, peculiar piece of filmmaking, (Untitled) is a satire of avant-garde art that will only interest people familiar with avantgarde art but is made by people who have come to despise avantgarde art. Bushy-browed Adam Goldberg (he dreamed of sex with President Lincoln in Dazed & Confused, then made a living playing Shalom-ing sidekicks) is an atonal composer whose compositions are scored for ripping newspaper and wailing voice: They sound like a journalism convention. He falls into an affair with a rubberclad gallery owner (Marley Shelton); she sells the pedestrian paintings of his brother (Eion Bailey) to hang in hotel lobbies. Vinnie

Jones shows up as the most loathsome character, a hands-off taxidermist who drapes stuffed cows with pearls. You must be cackling by now, yes? Writer-director Jonathan Parker’s slow-roasting of posturing does hit a few strong notes— as when Goldberg recalls how his earliest musical inspiration was the death of “Philip, the family dog”— but it mostly feels like a toothless retread of Art School Confidential, minus the blackhearted daring. The biggest problem, however, is the artwork itself: Just because a movie doesn’t ask you to take its caterwauling musical performances seriously doesn’t mean you don’t still have to sit through them. R. AARON MESH. Living Room Theaters.

Where the Wild Things Are

It’s standard practice to praise family movies by saying they’ll be enjoyed by parents and children alike, but in the case of the Spike Jonze/Dave Eggers adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s picture book, I suspect that some parents will sink blissfully into a reverie watching the characters throw clods of dirt, while their offspring tug on sleeves to ask when they can go outside and throw clods of dirt. Where the Wild Things Are is like watching a game of Calvinball scripted by Robert Altman—no rules, lots of running in circles and everybody grumbling at once—but at least it looks great. All the truest moments arrive before little Max (a subtly emotive young Portlander named Max Records) sails away from home in a tantrum and projects his feelings onto wonderfully tangible animal puppets, detailed by Jim Henson’s people down to the soil clinging to woolly legs and the mucus under nostrils.

But the oddly glum cavorting looks like those Olympic opening ceremonies where dancers wander beneath indigenous obelisks, only set to hipster Kidz Bop tapes. The monsters whiz by in an alarming jumble of infantile hurt feelings expressed in a large vocabulary; they don’t sound like children, or even a child’s understanding of their elders, so much as adults who don’t want to be adults. That’s exactly who it was made by, and for. PG. AARON MESH. Broadway, Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cinema 99, City Center, Forest, Lloyd Center, Tigard.

Whip It

The first 15 minutes of films about the first years of womanhood are such a difficult time. The opening act of Whip It gives little reason to hope it will be anything more than a retread of Juno, which was itself a copy of Ghost World. But as soon as alternateen Ellen Page hops a senior-citizen bingo bus for a ride to roller-derby tryouts—and shares a sympathetic exchange with a fellow bluehair—the movie reveals

a capacity for openheartedness and understanding far beyond its predecessors’. Debut director Drew Barrymore’s movie has editing problems, but it’s filled with delights, even beyond the mischief of tiny Page skating “like a weevil” while tatted ladies try to board-check her. Barrymore’s direction grows surer as Whip It goes along. (An underwater make-out session, set to Jens Lekman, is cut so the partners magically never need surface; love seems to have given them gills instead of wings.) With the exception of an obligatory Jimmy Fallon, the cast is superb, with Kristen Wiig, Alia Shawkat and Daniel Stern giving the performances of their careers. But the movie belongs to Marcia Gay Harden, whose interpretation of a controlling stage parent is so understanding it might cause people to forgive their own mothers.

PG-13. AARON MESH. Fox Tower, Hollywood Theatre.

NEW The Yes Men Fix the World

Move aside, Michael Moore—two “culture-jamming” activists known as the Yes Men take on corporations such as Dow Chemical, Exxon and Halliburton in their wickedly entertaining second film. The duo’s undercover hoaxes are in the style of Sacha Baron Cohen ventures, but these two are able to pull off larger stunts more cleverly and with more conscience. The Yes Men, known as Andy and Mike in the film (Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos in real life), create fake websites of major corporations “we don’t like,” then take advantage of invitations sent to attend major conferences and television appearances. (Vamos, a Reed graduate, honed his skills in Portland: In the early ‘90s, he organized a red-white-and-blue vomit protest of Dan Quayle, and surreptitiously changed road signs to read “Malcolm X St.”) The film begins with their 2004 prank on Dow Chemical, making an announcement on BBC World that Dow would take full responsibility for the Bhopal pesticide-plant disaster of 1984.

Their schemes are inspiring, but the Yes Men aren’t perfect. The film lacks the cohesiveness of Borat or Michael Moore’s most recent films, but in turn avoids Moore’s pompous self-righteousness, making the film delightful even if the scope of the Yes Men’s agenda runs away from them at times. Their humor, exemplified by a blue screen which projects satirical backgrounds behind their victims’ interviews, makes the audience forgive the amateurism and naiveté, and choose instead to laugh with them the whole way through.

ALI ROTHSCHILD. Cinema 21.

WWEEKDOTCOM WWEEKDOTCOM WWEEKDOTCOM WWEEKDOTCOM “BOTH FUNNY AND UPLIFTING,

‘The Blind Side’ is truly one of the best films of the year.”

– Phil Boatwright,

PREVIEW ONLINE

“This is the

BEST PERFORMANCE

of Sandra Bullock’s career.”

– Pete Hammond,

BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE

“THE MVP OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON!”

“A TRUE STORY THAT’S SO GOOD, IT SEEMS LIKE FICTION.” – Jim Ferguson, ABC-TV

– Megan Basham,

WORLD MAGAZINE

“ITS IMPORTANCE LIES IN THE HEARTS, THE SOULS AND THE SPIRITS OF EVERYONE INVOLVED.” – Jake Hamilton,

FOX-TV

ALCON ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS A GILCO-NETTER PRODUCTION A JOHN LEE HANCOCK FILM EXECUTIVE SANDRA BULLOCK “THE BLIND SIDE” TIM MCGRAW QUINTONPRODUCED AARON AND KATHY BATES PRODUCERS YOLANDA T. COCHRAN STEVENBASEDP. WEGNER PRODUCERS MOLLY SMITH TIMOTHY M. BOURNE ERWIN STOFF ON

BY GIL NETTER ANDREW A. KOSOVE BRODERICK JOHNSON THE BOOK THE BLIND SIDE: EVOLUTION OF A GAME BY MICHAEL LEWIS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JOHN LEE HANCOCK MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes, Text Message BLIND and Your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)

STARTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 - CHECK DIRECTORIES FOR LISTINGS WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com Area Codes: (360), (503), (530), (541), (803)

Portland Willamette Wk • Wed 11/18 • 2x8’’ JobID#:

415308

51

“‘Precious’ leaves you moved like no film in years.

It has a spirit that soars!”

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“You feel you’ve witnessed

nothing less than the birth of a soul.”

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

DOWNTOWN

“HHHH!”

“Remarkable!”

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Lou Lumenick, New York Post

“Unforgettable!

“Exhilarating!

A once in a blue moon experience.”

You can’t take your eyes off of it.”

Rex Reed, The New York Observer

Scott Foundas, LA Weekly

“Mo’Nique

“All hail newcomer

Gabourey Sidibe!”

is downright

electrifying!”

A.O. Scott, At The Movies

Peter Howell, Toronto Star

“‘Precious’ will

“‘Precious’ simply

steal your heart!”

cannot be missed!”

David Germain, Associated Press

MOVIE TIMES Broadway Metro 4 Theatres

1000 SW Broadway, 800-326-3264 DISNEYS A CHRISTMAS CAROL Fri-Tue 2, 4:45, 7 Fri-Sun 10:45am Fri 9:45 Sat 9:45 MICHAEL JACKSONS THIS IS IT Fri-Tue 1:45, 4:15, 6:45 Fri-Sun 11am Fri 9:30 Sat 9:30 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 Fri-Sat , WedThu 10:30 Fri 10:30am Sat 10:30am Sun 10:30am WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Fri-Tue 2:15, 5, 7:15 FriSun 11:15am Fri 10 Sat 10

Fifth Avenue Cinemas

Mary Corliss, Time

510 SW Hall St., 503-725-3551 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVEFri 7, 9:30 Sat 7, 9:30 Sun 3

Fox Tower Stadium 10

STARTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20

REGAL CINEMAS

REGAL CINEMAS

Portland (800) FANDANGO #327

Portland (800) FANDANGO #326

FOX TOWER STADIUM 10 LLOYD MALL 8

CALL THEATRE OR SEE DIRECTORIES FOR SHOWTIMES NO PASSES

846 SW Park Ave., 800-326-3264 A SERIOUS MAN Fri-Tue 12, 12:35, 2:20, 3:05, 4:45, 5:25, 7:10, 7:55, 9:30, 10:10 AN EDUCATION Fri-Tue 12:15, 12:45, 2:45, 3:15, 5:05, 5:35, 7:15, 7:45, 9:40, 9:55 COCO BEFORE CHANEL Fri-Tue 12:05, 2:25, 4:50, 7:20, 9:35 NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU FriTue 12:20, 2:55, 5:15, 7:35, 9:50 PIRATE RADIO Fri-Tue 12:10, 2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10:10 PRECIOUS Fri-Tue 12, 12:30, 2:30, 3, 5, 5:30, 7:30, 8, 10, 10:20 WHIP IT Fri-Tue 12:25, 2:50, 5:20, 7:50, 10:15

Living Room Theaters

341 SW 10th Ave., 971-222-2010 (UNTITLED) Fri-Tue 12:50, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30 HUMBLE PIE Fri-Tue 2, 5, 9:40 PARIS FriTue 4, 6:45, 9:20 SELFLESS Fri-Tue 9:35 THE BAKER Fri-Tue 1:40, 3:40, 5:40, 7:50 THE END OF THE LINE FriTue 12:40, 2:40, 4:40, 6:35, 8:30 THE INFORMANT! FriTue 12, 2:30, 4:50, 7:15, 9:30 THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE FriTue 1, 3, 7, 9 Fri-Sat 10:10

Pioneer Place Stadium 6

LIONSGATE WILLAMETTE WEEK WEDNESDAY: 11/18 ALL.PCS-A1.1118.WI.PDF VV VV

340 SW Morrison St., 800-326-3264 Call for showtimes.

2 COL. (3.772") X 5.25"

Whitsell Auditorium

1219 SW Park Ave., 503-221-1156 24 CITY Sun 4:30 A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE Fri 7 SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR Sat 8:45 THE PROWLER Sat 7 WORD IS OUT: STORIES OF SOME OF OUR LIVES Sun 7

SA

NORTH

SA

Friday-Thursday, Nov. 20-26 unless otherwise indicated.

Sat-Sun 1 IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN Fri-Sun 4:45 Sat-Sun 2 THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS 9:15 SatSun 1 WHIP IT 9:30

Kennedy School Theater

5736 NE 33rd Ave., 503-249-7474 INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS 10am JULIE & JULIA Tue-Thu 1 Fri-Mon 2:30 PONYO 5:30 Sat-Sun 12 THE INFORMANT! 7:45

Lloyd Center Stadium 10 Cinema

1510 NE Multnomah Blvd., 800-326-3264 2012 Fri-Sun 11:50am, 12:50, 3:20, 4:20, 6:50, 7:50, 10:20 DISNEYS A CHRISTMAS CAROL 3D FriSun 11:45am, 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 9:40 MICHAEL JACKSONS THIS IS IT Fri-Sun 12:10, 3:10, 6:45, 9:45 THE BLIND SIDE Fri-Sun 12:40, 3:40, 6:40, 9:55 THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS Fri-Sun 12:20, 2:45, 5:10, 7:45, 10:15 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON Fri-Sun 10am, 10:30am, 12:30, 1, 1:30, 3:30, 4, 4:30, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 9:30, 10, 10:30 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Fri-Sun 12:05, 2:30, 5, 7:35, 10:10

Lloyd Mall 8 Cinema

2320 Lloyd Center Mall, 800-326-3264 2012 11:40am, 3:10, 6:35, 9:55 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2:50, 9:40 PIRATE RADIO 12:25, 3:25, 6:25, 9:20 PLANET 51 12:10, 2:55, 6:10, 9:05 PRECIOUS 12:05, 12:30, 3:05, 3:30, 6:05, 6:30, 8:55, 9:30 THE BLIND SIDE 11:50am, 2:45, 6:15, 9:10 THE FOURTH KIND 11:55am, 6:20 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 12, 3, 6, 9

Roseway Theatre

7229 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-282-2898 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 1:30, 4:45, 8 FriSat 11

NORTHWEST Cinema 21

616 NW 21st Ave., 503-223-4515 Call for showtimes.

Mission Theater and Pub

1624 NW Glisan St., 503-249-7474 INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Sun-Wed 7:50 Fri 7:25 THE INFORMANT! Fri, Sun-Wed 5 Sat-Sun 2:30

SOUTHEAST Academy Theater

7818 SE Stark St., 503-252-0500 DISTRICT 9 Fri-Wed 9:50 Sat-Sun , Tue-Wed 2:20 HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Fri-Wed 4 Sat-Sun 1 INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Fri-Wed 6:45, 9:45 JULIE & JULIA Fri-Wed 4:40, 7:15 Sat-Sun 11:50am PONYO Fri-Wed 4:30 Sat-Sun , Tue-Wed 2:15 Sat 12 Sun 12 THE INFORMANT! Fri-Wed 7, 9:20 Tue-Wed 1:45

Avalon Theatre

3451 SE Belmont St., 503-238-1617 HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE 2:20, 6:50 INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS 9:20 JULIE &JULIA 3, 7:10 PONYO 12:30, 5 THE INFORMANT! 9:30 UP 1:05, 5:15

Bagdad Theater and Pub

3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-249-7474 INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Tue 7:30 Sat 10:35am Sun 7:50 JULIE & JULIA Wed 8:30 Fri 5:15 Sat 2 Sun 5:15 Tue 3:15 THE INFORMANT! Tue-Wed 6 Fri 7:50 Sat 5:15

Century Eastport 16

4040 SE 82nd Ave., 800-326-3264 2012 Fri-Tue 10:50am, 12:10, 1:25, 2:40, 3:55, 5:10, 6:20, 7:40, 8:55, 10:05 ASTRO BOY Fri-Tue 10:40am DISNEYS A CHRISTMAS CAROL Fri-Tue 1:10, 3:45, 6:15 Sun-Tue 9:05 DISNEYS A CHRISTMAS CAROL 3D Fri-Tue 12, 2:30, 5, 7:30, 10 MICHAEL JACKSONS THIS IS IT Fri-Tue 11:10am, 1:55, 4:45, 7:35, 10:20am PARANORMAL ACTIVITY Fri-Sat 9:05 PIRATE RADIO Fri-Tue 1:20, 4:25, 7:20, 10:30 PLANET 51 Fri-Tue 11am, 12:10, 1:35, 2:50, 4, 5:15, 6:25, 7:45, 9, 10:10 THE BLIND SIDE FriTue 11:45am, 1:15, 2:45, 4:15, 5:45, 7:15, 8:45, 10:15am THE FOURTH KIND Fri-Tue 7:25, 9:55 THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS Fri-Tue 12:20, 3, 5:25, 8, 10:25 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON Fri-Wed 10:30am, 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 Fri-Tue 11:30am, 12:30, 2:30, 3:30, 5:30, 6:30, 8:30, 9:30, 10:30 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Fri-Tue 11:20am, 2:10, 4:50

A SERIOUS MAN 5:30, 7:35, 9:40 Sat-Sun 3:25

Clinton Street Theater 2522 SE Clinton St., 503-238-8899 BLACK DYNAMITE 9 FriWed 7 REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA Fri 11:30am THANKSGIVING KUNG FU MINI-MARATHON Thu 6 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Sat 12

Division Street Stadium 13

16603 SE Division St., 800-326-3264 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 1, 4, 7, 10 Fri-Sun 10am

Moreland Theatre

6712 SE Milwaukie Ave., 503-236-5257 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 5:30, 8:10 Sat-Sun 12:10, 2:50

The OMNIMAX Theatre at OMSI

1945 SE Water Ave., 503-797-4640 ADRENALINE Fri-Sun , Tue-Thu 12, 4 Fri-Sat 6, 9 BUGS!: A RAINFOREST ADVENTURE Fri-Sun , TueThu 11am, 2 DEEP SEA FriSun , Tue-Thu 1, 3, 5 Fri 8 Sat 7 JOURNEY TO MECCA IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF IBN BATTUTA Fri 7 MYSTIC INDIASat 8 Sun 6 THE POLAR EXPRESS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE Tue-Thu 6

SUBURBS 99 Indoor Twin

Highway 99W, 503-538-2738 CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS Fri-Sun 7 Fri 9 Sat 9 Sun 2:30 MICHAEL JACKSONS THIS IS IT Fri-Sun 7 Fri 9 Sat 9 Sun 2:30

99 West Drive-In Portland Road, 503-538-2738 Call for showtimes.

SUBJECT TO CHANGE. CALL THEATERS OR VISIT WWEEK.COM/MOVIETIMES FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION

CineMagic Theatre 2021 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-231-7919

Portlander Cinema 10350 N Vancouver Way, 503-240-5850 Call for showtimes.

Checkout wweek.com/ giveguide to start giving!

DONATE NOW!

St. Johns Pub and Theater

8203 N Ivanhoe St., 503-249-7474 JULIE & JULIA Fri, Tue-Wed 6 Sun 1 THE INFORMANT! Fri, Tue-Wed 8:30 Sat 9

St. Johns Twin Cinemas and Pub

8704 N Lombard St., 503-286-1768 2012 8:30 Fri-Sun , Tue-Thu 5:30 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 7:55 Fri, MonThu 5 Sat 11:35am, 2:10, 5:10 Sun 11:35am, 2:10, 5:10

NORTHEAST Hollywood Theatre

4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-281-4215 AN EDUCATION 7, 9 Fri-Sun 5 Sat 3 Sun 3 COCO BEFORE CHANEL 7:30 Fri-Sun 5:15 Sat 3:10 Sun 3:10 CRUDE 7:15

52

WillametteWeek NOVEMBER 18, 2009 wweek.com

BREW VIEWS BY AARON MESH TOP 5 MOVIES TO WATCH IN THEATER PUBS THIS WEEK: 1. Julie & Julia: And now it’s time to prepare some delicious

Cornish roasting birds! Academy, Bagdad, Grand Lodge, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst, Milwaukie, Valley.

2. Inglourious Basterds: It’s oh so simple! Academy, Bagdad, Kennedy School,

Laurelhurst, Milwaukie, Mission.

3. Heat: Just preheat the over to 375 degrees, and slice off this tendon here... Laurelhurst.

4. The Invention of Lying: Oh, dear! I seem to have cut the

dickens out of my hand! Laurelhurst.

5. The Informant!: Maaaaaattttt Daaaaaammmmooon. Academy, Bagdad, Edgefield, Grand Lodge, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst, Milwaukie, Mission, St. Johns, Valley.

BACK COVER

TO ADVERTISE ON WILLAMETTE WEEK’S BACK COVER CALL 243-2122

Apple Macintosh Certified Consultant

House-calls, support, training.

Experience & professionalism you can trust. www.kginger.com 503-771-7015

Home Buying Classes Home Buying Classes At PCC. Details/Resources at PortlandHomeBuying101.com 503-314-9567

Carpet Repairs

Criminal Defense

Rips, Tears, Burns, Stains, Restretching.

Casey 503-593-9826 CCB#168587

Experienced Attorney. Misdemeanors & Felonies. DUII, drugs, expungement.

Jake Braunstein 503.505.0411

CDPDX

The Best For CD + DVD Duplication.

503-228-2222 • www.cdpdx.com

DUII, Diversion, Drugs, And Expungement

CHANGE THE WORLD IN 4 WEEKENDS

Criminal Attorney. Misdemeanors & Felonies.

Jeffrey Siefman, 503-609-0529.

Volunteer Leader trainings in November.

Contact Greg at 503-282-8846 x12 or GregT@ Eating Disorders FriendsofTrees.org. www.FriendsofTrees.org. Free Family and Sufferers Support Groups.

It’s not too late to eliminate debt, protect 12 Week Treatment Groups. Individual assets, start over. Experienced, compas- CNA Training Counseling. Call for free “Steps To Recover” sionate, top-quality service.

Start Your New Career Today. brochure. A Better Way Counseling Center Christopher Kane, 503-380-7822 Next class starts 11/30, 1/18, 2/1 & 2/22.

503-226-9061 www.abwcounseling.com www.ckanelaw.com www.CNA-Careers.com or 503-384-0147

Bankruptcy Attorney

2 Bedroom Lease/ Option $225,000

FREE YOGA

8K option/fee North Interstate. 503-2683480. www.myfavoritehome.info

CorePower Yoga NW Quimby at 23rd 503.226.9642 SE 9th and SE Morrison 503.233.9642 www.corepoweryoga.com

MAC REPAIR PORTLAND MAC TECH

Gluten-Free Portland

Free House Calls • Low Rates $25 diagnostic fee, $50 per hour. Call 503998-9662 or Schedule an appointment at http://www.portlandmactech.com

Resource Guide, Cooking, Diet Counseling. www.GlutenFreeChoice.com 503-413-9369

AA HYDROPONICS

20 YEARS EXPERIENCE. DEBT RELIEF AGENCY. www.nwbankruptcy.com FREE CONSULTATIONS, 503-242-1162

Now enrolling. Beginners Welcome!

Brody Theater 503-224-2227 www.brodytheater.com

Briz Loan & Guitar. Downtown Vancouver, WA 360-699-5626 www.briz.us Alcohol Server Education Classes (ASE) $17. MomentsNoticeOregonTesting.com

ATTORNEY- BANKRUPTCY

Host Your Event Holiday • Weddings • Corporate • Concert 503-236-2454 www.eastburnside.com

EMBARASSED BY YOUR NAILS? Our proven and painless PinPointe™ FootLaster™ system kills the fungus that causes the disease. Your nails will grow out looking normal!

• • • •

FDA Cleared Laser Light Fast, Safe and Painless No Anesthesia or Drugs 88% Success Rate

INTRODUCTORY MONTH UNLIMITED. 4831 NE Fremont, 503-284-0555 7070 SE 16th 503-232-9642 5816 SW Hood Ave 503-452-1132

Call Medical Marijuana Card Services Clinic Our doctors can help.

503-384-WEED(9333)

www.TheBarberBabes.com 914 NE 28th 503-235-8199

Talk to exciting singles near you!

Free to browse & listen to profiles.

CALL NOW! 503.928.6070 Must be 18+

MAMA’S MEDICAL Marijuana Clinic

Getting registered for medical marijuana needn’t be a counter-culture experience.

MAMA: 503-233-4202. MAMAS.org

MISTRESS VICTORIA

Cold Beer, Hot Stylists, Great Haircuts!

Clean, safe & fun. Walkins welcome. NW 23rd neighborhood. www.mega-robot.com

Specialized Counseling

Hypnotherapy works.

Jen Procter, CHt., M.NLP 503-804-1973 hello@jenprocter.com

Including Suboxone/BUP. Certified Addiction MD. $180. 503-232-1229.

Dr. Ambrose Su, DPM

(503) 544-2794 · 877-LZR-NAIL www.thelasernailclinic.com

ROBOT Piercing & Tattoo

Stop SMOKING, Already!

SuperDigital

The Recording Store. Pro Audio.

CD/DVD Duplication. www.superdigital.com 503-228-2222 Twitter: @DonnySuperDigit

SweetJayne.net

NE Broadway & NW 23rd Women’s Designer Closeouts From $18!

TaiChi

Enhance awareness via moving meditation www.nwfighting.com or 503-740-2666

Men’s Addiction Treatment WalterWesley.com Fun free easy way to make money

The Laser Nail Clinic, LLC

$29 BIKRAM YOGA!

John Lucy, Defense Attorney 503-227-6000 • www.Law420.com

Home Delivery, Pick-up.

In-Home Services 503-989-0705

LAVALIFE VOICE

Our nonprofit clinic’s doctors will help.

The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation. www.thc-foundation.org 503-281-5100

Marijuana & Criminal Law

Roberts Personal Services

JiuJitsu

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Located locally in Lake Oswego.

Additional offices throughout Oregon

Free removal. Ask for Steve. 503-936-5923

Crisis/Trauma Sexual/Domestic Assault EMDR Therapist Athena Phillips, LCSW 503.819.4181

Ground defense under black belt instruction. www.nwfighting.com or 503-740-2666

Approved OLCC Online

Bossanova Ballroom

$Quick Cash for Junk Vehicles$

Improvisation Classes

ALL MUSIC PAWN SHOP!

Experience Euphoria! 1235 SE Division.

503-240-1997 www.EuphoriaStudios.net

Guitar Lessons

FREE BASIC MEMBERSHIP: CHAT with VIP members. Respond to VIP members’ personal ads. Participate in the member FORUMS. Try it, its a FREE call! LIVE-LINE, The largest LOCAL chatline 503-222-CHAT • 360-696-5253. Optional, UNLIMITED VIP membership for as low as $1.77/day

Anita Manishan Bankruptcy Attorney

BELLYDANCE!

11/21-22, $80 (Adv.Tickets) Bamboo Grove, 134 SE Taylor pdxplantmedicine.org

GUITAR LESSONS

Hook up tonight!

Female Owned Studio.

Amazing Artists! Awesome Jewelry!

East 503-232-6222 West 503-292-7060 www.adornbodyart.com

Low cost. Professional legal representation.

Debt Relief Agency. Michael Day, Attorney 503-228-0893 www.MichaelDayLaw.com

Portland Plant Medicine Gathering

Post it, Rent it, Buy it, Sell it

Personalized instruction for over 15yrs. www.danielnoland.com 503-546-3137

ADORN Tattoos|Piercing|Jewelry

Bankruptcy

Rods/Fusions & Crosstraining www.bluelotuspilates.com 503-884-0951

Instantly post and browse ads for FREE! ALL AGES ALL LEVELS. 503-707-5806. portland.wweek.com www.heronblue.com steve@heronblue.com

9966 SW Arctic Drive, Beaverton 9220 SE Stark Street, Portland American Agriculture • americanag.com PDX 503-256-2400 BVT 503-641-3500

FREE Consultation. Payment Plans.

Experienced. Debt-Relief Agency Scott Hutchinson. 503-808-9032 www.Hutchinson-Law.com

Pilates For Back Pain

Smoldering, Strict and Painfully Gorgeous BDSM and Fetish 503-858-5407. www.thedeviantdollhouse.com

Opiate Treatment Program

over internet.

WE BUY GOLD!

The Jewelry Buyer 2034 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland.

503-239-6900

We Can Sell Your Guns!

Antiques, Guns, Jewelry or Entire Estate! www.GaryGermer.com Do you or someone you love have a prob503-235-0946 lem with prescription opiates or heroin?

New evening outpatient treatment proFloating Candle  Need Mac Help? gram including Suboxone, comprehenCenterpieces sive medical and counseling components. Onsite Apple Certified services: upgrades, Unique accessories for your special event. CRCHealth/Jim Thayer, MD, Addiction repair, data recovery and more.

SURROUNDINGS.COM 503-598-2281.

Medicine, 503-505-4979, 503-348-2840. www.mymacfix.com or 503.703.4545

Recession Special

$50 Brazilian Wax or 1 Hour Facial The Face Place

15 Years Experience

1009 NW Hoyt, Unit 101

(503) 243-7576 www.waxqueen.com