Willamette Week, November 24, 2021 - Volume 48, Issue 4 - "Spend the Night atThis Lighthouse"

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

“I DID FIND A BAKER WHO MAKES OK CAKES.” P. 38 VOL 48/04 11.24.2021

E WEE K’S

GIFT GUIDE 2021

COPS THEY WANT A LAWYER PAGE 6

PAGE 23

t h g i N e h t d n Spte e s u o h t h a This Lig NEWS WHEN ZILLOW MOVES OUT PAGE 9

WWEEK.COM

WILLAMETT

Sleep in the keeper's quarters at Heceta Head

25

other activities to tackle this winter.

FOOD FERMENTATION IS MAGIC! PAGE 34

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Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

THOMAS TEAL

FINDINGS

NIGHTINGALE, PAGE 36

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER VOL. 48, ISSUE 4 Portland riot cops don’t trust city attorneys. 6 Betsy Johnson needs 40% of the vote to be elected governor. 7

RingSide consulted doctor and dentist offices when deciding where to buy faux foliage to decorate its parking lot tent. 16

nomah County this year and sold just 25. 9

Central Oregon now has a designated Dark Sky Place (Sunriver) and an International Dark Sky Park (Prineville Reservoir). 17

One reader imagines anchoring a new Lloyd neighborhood with a We’re So Sorry We F$@#!d You Over!! Statue. 11

Ten bridges were airlifted into the Mount Hood National Forest during Mirror Lake’s trailhead reconfiguration. 19

The Scandinavians have a term for welcoming the darkest, coldest days of the year: friluftsliv, or “open-air living.” 12

There’s a peacock roosting on Holy Ghost’s roof. 31

Zillow bought 150 houses in Mult-

The 56-foot-tall Heceta Head Lighthouse sends beams 21 miles out to sea. 13 Brasa Haya has two ways to help you stay warm on its patio this winter: Mr. Heater and one of the best Spanish coffees in town. 14

Pix Pâtisserie makes 24 flavors of macarons. 33 The middle name of coffee roaster Christopher Hall’s firstborn child is Bean. 35 When performer Jane Comer came out as a trans woman, she was suddenly denied numerous acting jobs. 38

ON THE COVER:

OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK:

Heceta Head Lighthouse, photo

by Calvin Polen/ Unsplash.

A Portland crowd pelted the Multnomah County Justice Center with eggs after the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.

MASTHEAD EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Mark Zusman

EDITORIAL

News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Suzette Smith Assistant A&C Editor Andi Prewitt Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, Rachel Monahan, Sophie Peel, Tess Riski News Intern Tori Lieberman Copy Editor Matt Buckingham

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DIALOGUE

• •••• ••••

A T R E A LRBO S ER E T •••• A E H T NOV 30

THRU

IN THE HOURS after the Nov. 19 acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on murder charges in Wisconsin, Portland saw its first significant political property destruction in several months, as around 150 people pelted the Multnomah County Justice Center with eggs and shattered the windows of a nearby design office. Sheriff ’s deputies declared a riot—the only one in the nation following the Rittenhouse verdict. Here’s what our readers had to say:

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did the author know they were ‘leftists,’ merely because they allegedly protested the verdict?

Only ‘leftists’ thought he might be guilty? Propagating division is what keeps us divided.”

SCRAPPYMUTT, VIA WWEEK. COM: “Just want to point

featuring

MAGICAL STRING CELTIC YULETIDE

BRIAN, VIA TWITTER: “How

out there were like 100 kids throwing eggs at a building at this ‘riot’ and there are like 200 comments on this article.

People want this story to be true so bad they barely even notice that it’s not. My 7-yearold plays soccer, and his games are probably more violent than this ‘riot,’ not to mention better attended.”

SAFESPACER, IN RESPONSE:

“I really hope I am not alone in saying we don’t want to go back to the ‘nothing to see here’

Dr. Know

press coverage of this sort of activity. Sustained, tolerated rioting, vandalizing, arson and looting throughout 2020 really did do a lot of damage reputationally to the city which may be irreversible. A little bit of puritanical outrage is warranted at this point. If you’re still unconvinced, ask yourself: Do you think a planned Patriot Prayer rally at the waterfront with a few dozen attendees should be covered by the press?”

MIKE MILLER, VIA FACEBOOK: “Why do the people

of Portland hate windows so much? They let you see into and out of things. They’re quite handy.”

STEADYSTAN, VIA WWEEK. COM: “We are a city of 652,000

people, and we continue to allow 100 to 200 people to trash and vandalize businesses, destroy public property, harass innocent bystanders. In other

words, 0.03% of the population is destroying this city’s core and precious reputation. And, by the way: It’s not just downtown, as we’re continually told.

Look around and you’ll see ‘ACAB’ or some form of really nasty anti-police trash graffiti virtually everywhere in town; you don’t have to look far.

“Everyone around the world…yes, world…is watching this city get trashed by terrorists over and over again, asking, ‘Are they really that stupid?’

Yes, we are.”

MARLA WATSON, VIA FACEBOOK: “We were five blocks

away on Broadway and Salmon and had no idea anything was going on. Downtown was nice, just like it always was. I think the media creates much ado about nothing.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification.

Letters must be 250 or fewer words.

Submit to: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210.

Email: mzusman@wweek.com.

CORRECTION

A story on Prosper Portland’s contract to demolish the U.S. Post Office site (“Lost in the Mail,” WW, Nov. 17, 2021) incorrectly stated that the economic development agency initially awarded the contract to a white-owned firm. In fact, it was a Native Alaskan owned firm not certified as a minority contractor. Prosper preferred but did not require certification. WW regrets the error.

BY MART Y SMITH @martysmithxxx

An apartment building I pass often was gutted by fire a while back.

Instead of tearing it down, the owners hired round-the-clock security to guard the remains for several months. Isn’t it a little late to start protecting it now? Why waste the money? —Fire Bug I can’t support the notion that we have to immediately demolish every burned-out, derelict ruin we encounter, Bug. (In fact, I’m struggling not to take it personally.) There are actually a number of reasons why a fire-damaged structure might hang around longer than you consider seemly.

Depending on its location and historical status, it’s possible your wreck was subject to Portland’s Demolition Delay Ordinance. (It’s capitalized, so you know they mean business.)

This law buys certain doomed residential buildings at least 35 days to be (maybe) saved by scrappy neighborhood underdogs. It’s mostly invoked to protect intact single-family homes from being leveled out of greed, but it can be used on fire-damaged structures as well, assuming someone thinks they can be saved.

Your building may also have been the subject of a fire investigation. During this, the

site would need to be preserved like any other crime scene. (This would also explain the armed guards.) Having such a probe drag on for months is admittedly a stretch, but who knows; it’s been a weird year.

Then again, perhaps it just took the owners a while to get their act together. It’s not exactly rare that burned-out buildings take a few months to get knocked down.

Of course, that doesn’t explain the beefedup security. As partial as I am to the crimescene theory, it’s at least as likely that the landlord, who’s probably already getting sued over the fire, simply doesn’t want the additional headache of some lawyered-up klutz taking a header into the basement.

Why would someone want to explore an unstable, decaying hulk teetering on the brink of collapse? I dunno, ask my Tinder matches!

(Ba-dum-TSS!) But seriously, folks: Thrill seekers, taggers and especially scrap metal thieves might easily be tempted by the site. (The latter are also exactly the type to sue you because they stepped on a nail while ripping off your stuff.) Given this risk, it’s well worth it for the property owner to hire security—especially since fire-scene security expenses are usually covered by insurance.

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

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OREGON ENDS OUTDOOR MASK RULE: Oregon Health Authority director Pat Allen announced the state would lift its requirement that Oregonians wear masks outdoors, effective Nov. 23. The change comes as Oregon COVID19 cases have fallen from a summer surge of the Delta variant. Oregon is the only state in the country with a statewide outdoor mask mandate still in effect wherever distancing is not possible. It remains one of five states with indoor mask mandates regardless of vaccination status. OHA officials declined to enumerate the set of circumstances under which they would end the indoor mandate, saying circumstances had to change, including fewer hospitalizations. But given several chances to list specifics, they declined, citing the uncertain nature of the pandemic, which could see positive developments, such as federal approval of a pill to fight COVID-19, or emerging dangers, such as new variants. “We don’t have an exact number,” says Allen. “I want to be clear, it’s not like we have an exact number that we’re keeping secret in OHA and not telling people.”

The agency still recommends wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings.

DRAZAN WILL ENTER GOVERNOR’S RACE: In a notable addition to the field of possible gubernatorial candidates, House Minority Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) has announced her intentions to enter the race in the coming weeks. Drazan is a well-respected legislator, known as an effective political strategist and a clear communicator. “Oregonians are ready for change,” Drazan said in a Nov. 22 statement. “They are tired of the backroom deals, the broken promises and the failed leadership. They are tired of our state consistently being in the national headlines for all the wrong reasons. Frankly, I am too.” An Oregon Republican hasn’t won the governor’s race since 1982.

And state Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose), a moderate Democrat who’s raised $2.5 million running as an unaffiliated candidate, complicates the race for both Democrats and Republicans.

NIKE EXECUTIVE STEPS DOWN: Julia Brim Edwards, who parlayed a first career in Oregon politics into a high-level position at Nike and has been involved in nearly every significant state and local political issue for the past 17 years, is hanging up her spikes, according to multiple sources. In recent years, Brim Edwards worked closely with public employee unions to help lawmakers pass the 2019 Student Success Act, which will pump more than $1 billion a year into K-12 education. That hard-fought victory came after years of preparation and followed a decisive defeat of a similar concept, Measure 97, at the ballot box in 2016. Brim Edwards also played a central role in defeating Metro’s massive transportation tax in 2020. A member of the Portland Public Schools Board, Brim Edwards declined to comment about what she’ll do next, although friends say she plans to remain active on a variety of public issues. Nike did not respond by press deadline.

EYEWITNESS SAYS POLICE ATE PIZZA AT CRIME SCENE: Among the revelations in nearly 800 pages of grand jury transcripts pertaining to the April 16 shooting death of Robert Delgado by Portland Police Bureau Officer Zachary DeLong, one eyewitness described an unsettling scene: Police officers eating pizza within feet of Delgado’s uncovered body.

During the first day of grand jury proceedings, an assistant attorney general asked witness David Hernandez to describe what he saw in the minutes after Delgado fell to the ground.

“All of them standing around his body eating pizza,” Hernandez testified. “They were having a party on the car right next to his body.” Later, a grand juror asked Hernandez to elaborate on the “pizza party.” “They didn’t have no party favors or nothing,” Hernandez said, “but they had a pile of pizzas sitting on the hood and a lot of the officers were standing around eating pizza, leaving the body there uncovered for all the kids and everybody to see. It was just horrible.” PPB did not respond to WW’s request for comment. For a closer look at what happened in the minutes and hours after Delgado’s death, check out wweek.com.

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NEWS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK

CONTRACTS

Each of the seven contracts signed this year lists a specific court case for which Hart Wagner will defend the officer. Here’s what the contracts cover.

OFFICER CR AIG LEHMAN The scope of the contract, signed by the city in March, is to “advise, represent, and defend city employee Craig Lehman with respect to any threatened or actual contempt proceeding against him” in relation to the ACLU-led lawsuit, Index Newspapers, et al. v. City of Portland.

Why won’t the city of Portland defend these riot cops in court?

BY TE SS R I S K I

tess@wweek.com

It’s been nearly six months since the Portland Police Bureau’s 50-member riot squad, the Rapid Response Team, resigned en masse following the June 15 indictment of one of its members, Officer Corey Budworth.

The group has dissolved, but its legal battles have not.

Nor has the cost to taxpayers.

In fact, the city has hired outside counsel to defend three of those officers against lawsuits.

Between March and September, the City Attorney’s Office signed seven contracts with the law firm Hart Wagner LLP to defend Detective Erik Kammerer and Officers Justin Damerville and Craig Lehman—all onetime RRT members. Each contract is for $20,000, bringing the total budget to $140,000 for all seven.

Typically, the city of Portland defends its police officers against legal claims. But the contracts reviewed by WW, obtained through a public records request, say the city cannot represent the three because of “an actual or potential conflict of interest.”

It’s not the first time local officials have cited potential conflicts related to Detective Kammerer. Last November, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office referred a criminal investigation of Kammerer to the Oregon Department of Justice due to an unspecified “potential conflict of interest.” That investigation is still ongoing.

HUNZEKER WATCH

DETECTIVE ERIK K AMMERER During his tenure with the RRT, Kammerer led the unit’s Delta Squad. The scope of the city’s four contracts for Kammerer, all signed in September, pertain to three protest-related claims and one negligence claim following a vehicle collision: • An April 2021 lawsuit filed by Hannah Ahern, whom Kammerer slammed to the pavement and arrested after she spat on the ground during an August 2019 protest.

• A lawsuit filed in May by a Portland father named Elijah Warren, who accuses Kammerer of striking him in the back of the head with his baton as Warren spoke to police officers outside his home during a September 2020 protest.

• A battery complaint filed in August 2020 by a protester named Michael Weisdorf, who alleges that multiple unnamed Police Bureau officers knocked him to the ground multiple times as he attempted to flee a protest in July 2020. (Neither the civil complaint nor any of the publicly available court filings name Kammerer, so it is unclear why the city hired outside counsel to represent him in this case.)

• A now-closed lawsuit filed by Aaron McCarthy, who accused Kammerer of veering into McCarthy’s lane in an unmarked police vehicle, thus forcing him into a concrete barrier and causing his vehicle to spin 180 degrees.

We should be thankful for answers. BY TESS RISKI

264 DAYS:

That’s how long it’s been since the Portland Police Bureau opened an internal affairs investigation into the leak of information that wrongly implicated Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in a March 3 hit-and-run. It has released no results of its inquiry.

6

ALEX WITTWER

Objection

In a statement to WW, City Attorney Robert Taylor said his office “chose to retain outside counsel in these matters in an abundance of caution given the professional rules governing attorneys.”

Taylor declined to comment further or to specify what, exactly, the conflicts were.

Friction between the Police Bureau’s rank and file and the City Attorney’s Office predates most of the recent contracts.

In a June 17 resignation letter, RRT members wrote to Police Chief Chuck Lovell that the unit had a “lack of confidence” in the legal representation provided by the city. “[E]arly in the demonstrations of 2020, the city commissioners did not support the police,” RRT commander Lt. Jacob Clark wrote. “This led the City Attorney’s Office to not properly support the Police Bureau on a legal front. To ensure the Police Bureau receives proper legal counsel from the City Attorney’s Office, a Police Bureau-focused group has to be independent of political leadership direction.”

It’s not unheard of for the city to retain outside counsel to defend Portland cops. But seven of the 12 contracts the city signed with Hart Wagner since 2010 came in the past eight months.

What makes the recent contracts especially interesting is that Kammerer, Damerville and Lehman are among the city’s most high-profile riot cops.

Last December, Courthouse News first reported, the city agreed to remove Damerville and Lehman from street duty following a preliminary injunction the city had agreed to in federal court, which barred police from arresting journalists and legal observers. The injunction stemmed from a class action lawsuit, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which alleges that 60 unnamed law enforcement officers were “intentionally and indiscriminately attacking neutral members of the press and legal observers.”

O F F I C E R J U S T I N DA M E RV I L L E The two contracts for Damerville state that Hart Wagner will defend him against two separate battery and assault claims filed in federal court by protesters Dmitri Stoyanoff and Marie Tyvoll, stemming from a Sept.

28, 2020, Black Lives Matter protest in Kenton Park.

Stoyanoff’s complaint alleges Damerville and three unknown Police Bureau officers, “for no legal reason,” tried to take Stoyanoff’s sign, which read “Vote Register Here.”

“Damerville roughly pushed a press person out of the way as he moved towards plaintiff,” the complaint alleges, “and [began] spraying Stoyanoff’s head, face and eyes at brutally close range for between 7 and 10 seconds.”

The complaint alleges Tyvoll filmed Damerville’s actions, until he turned on her. The complaint says he and another, unknown officer “used unlawful, excessive force against Tyvoll by violently pushing her backwards to prevent her filming, and Damerville spraying her at close range with aerosol pepper spray.”

The complaint says “multiple protesters” and the press recorded video of the incident.

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

253 DAYS:

That’s how long ago Officer Brian Hunzeker resigned from his role as president of the Portland Police Association due to what the union described as a “serious, isolated mistake related to the Police Bureau’s investigation into the alleged hit-and-run by Commissioner Hardesty.” We still don’t know what he did. The mayor’s office says it doesn’t know what he did.

252 DAYS:

That’s how long it’s been since the city signed a contract with an outside investigative firm two probe the leak.

LINEUP

DONOR

General Misery Portland’s top two sports executives face probes of their behavior.

Earlier this month, the Portland Thorns announced they’d hired former goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc as the soccer team’s general manager. Her hiring gives LeBlanc a dubious honor: She’s the only GM of a Portland professional sports franchise not under investigation for workplace misconduct.

LeBlanc’s predecessor at the Thorns, Gavin Wilkinson, still runs the Portland Timbers for owner Merritt Paulson. Neil Olshey oversees basketball operations for the Portland Trail Blazers. Both teams hired outside firms this fall to probe allegations the executives oversaw operations where employees dreaded coming to work.

Here’s how the investigations are proceeding. CORBIN SMITH. GAVIN WILKINSON Date inquiry began: Oct. 4

Scope of investigation: On Sept. 30, sports website The Athletic published a lengthy report on a series of unnerving allegations of sexual misconduct by former Portland Thorns coach Paul Riley. In 2015, Thorns midfielder Mana Shim filed a detailed complaint with Wilkinson and team owner Merritt Paulson describing Riley’s misbehavior (including an allegation that the coach pressured Shim to kiss a teammate in front of him). Riley was fired in the offseason, seemingly on account of his poor performance that year, but Wilkinson has claimed that Riley’s harassment was also a factor. The Thorns front office maintains it fully informed the National Women’s Soccer League what it knew of Riley’s behavior—but what Wilkinson knew and what he told the league is the subject of the investigation.

Who’s conducting the investigation: Paulson said Oct. 4 that the Thorns have hired “outside lawyers, including a female former federal prosecutor,” but the team hasn’t responded to WW’s questions about who those lawyers are.

His status: The Thorns replaced Wilkinson with LeBlanc, but he continues to manage day-to-day operations for the Timbers.

Most damning allegation: The Athletic’s article also details a bizarre conversation Shim recalls having with Wilkinson. A day before the NWSL championship game in 2013, Shim came out publicly as LGBTQ. After the title game, Shim met with Wilkinson, who allegedly “instructed her to not be as vocal about off-the-field matters.” Shim claims that “Wilkinson’s tone was genial, but the message was clear: We don’t talk about being gay or having pride. We play soccer.”

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR

John Horvick A pollster gauges the chances of Sen. Betsy Johnson’s bid for governor.

The unaffiliated candidate for Oregon governor is now the race’s fundraising leader.

State Sen. Betsy Johnson, who has served 20 years in Salem as a Democrat but is raising money for an independent campaign for governor, announced last week that she’s squirreled away $2.5 million so far. That far more than the three leading Democrats—Tina Kotek, Tobias Read and Nick Kristof—have raised.

That raises the specter of a competitive third-party candidate. If she doesn’t win, she will likely play the spoiler—whichever party she pulls more votes away from will be the party that loses.

So which will it be? Republicans haven’t won Mahonia Hall in a generation, but Democrats face an unhappy electorate.

The best person to appraise the risk is somebody who regularly takes the temperature of voters.

So WW asked Portland pollster John Horvick what he thinks.

RACHEL MONAHAN. Can an independent win the governor’s race?

If you just look at Oregon’s history, if you look at just elections in American history, independents don’t win. I mean, it’s just a rare, rare thing. So folks should be clear-eyed about the fact that an independent winning the election shouldn’t be the expectation.

That should be the thing that surprises us.

However, [Johnson] is already is extremely well financed. She’s going to be able to spend money to get that name recognition that the candidate needs. She’s going to be able to throw bombs if she chooses through the primaries.

Plus, she’s an interesting person. She’s pretty good at politics.

And so there is a real possibility there.

Wilkinson denies Shim’s account of that conversation—he called it “bullshit.”

When the inquiry will conclude: Maybe later than you’d think. Players are insisting on a thorough investigation, and fan groups are intimately invested in the outcome.

Thorns representatives did not respond to WW’s questions by press deadline.

NEIL OLSHEY Date inquiry began: Announced Nov. 6.

Scope of investigation: Olshey is accused of fostering a toxic work environment in the Trail Blazers’ basketball operations department, where he is alleged to have subjected employees to routine verbal abuse, intimidation tactics and bullying.

Who’s conducting the investigation: O’Melveny and Myers, a Los Angeles law firm.

His status: Still on the job, but no longer sitting in a courtside seat next to owner Jody Allen.

Most damning allegation: When Dan Dickau, a former Blazer player and coach, was dismissed by the basketball operations department, he contacted the team’s chief marketing officer, seeking another job in the organization. When Olshey found out, Dickau says, he called Dickau and subjected him to a profane tirade. “You former players don’t get it,” Dickau recalls Olshey saying. “You don’t work. You’re lazy.”

When it will conclude: The Blazers decline to say, but it’s expected to wrap up soon.

GMs across the NBA are unnerved enough that ESPN says they’ve discussed forming a professional association—yep, like an executives’ union—to pay legal expenses for embattled bosses like Olshey.

What’s the impact of a Biden first-term midterm election on Oregon?

We have an electorate that’s very upset. We can talk about the reasons why, but you just look at the standard metrics, like direction of state, approval of the local leaders, they’re extremely low.

Which would suggest that there’s an opportunity for somebody who is not that. “ The reason I think the Republicans would more be willing to jump ship is: They haven’t won an election for 40 years.”

I would look to 2010 as the example. Chris Dudley got within a whisker of beating [John] Kitzhaber, and Republicans were able to get a 30-30 split in the House of Representatives.

What’s the lowest percentage of votes that a Republican or a Democrat, respectively, could win in a statewide race in Oregon?

Where do I think is the floor for Republicans? It’s hard for me to see the Republicans getting less than 25% of the vote. Democrats? 35%.

Can you still do the math?

Is that enough?

Yes. It’s enough for Betsy Johnson to still win.

Any sense of whether Betsy Johnson will hurt Republicans or Democrats more?

I think a third-party candidate who sort of leans to the rightish is more likely to pull from Republican voters than Democratic voters. I think Democratic voters, given the recent history, are very sensitive to their concerns about whatever the worst worries are about the Republican Party. The reason I think the Republicans would more be willing to jump ship is: They haven’t won an election for 40 years.

But who the Republicans nominate makes a big difference. No one’s telling me this, so this is just me reading tea leaves. I suspect there’s a contingent of Betsy Johnson Republicans, whoever those are, who really would like Republicans to nominate the far-right person, because they would like a cleaner headto-head Democrat versus Betsy Johnson than a threeway—because they need those Republican votes.

Contribution of the Week This week’s contribution went to a candidate in the primary election for Portland City Council Position 3, currently held by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. Hardesty won her office in a rout, beating then-Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith 62% to 37% in November 2018.

Although Hardesty used the momentum of a racial justice uprising to easily pass a police reform ballot measure last year, she finds herself on the defensive now—with two challengers, Social Security benefits judge Vadim Mozyrsky and lawyer and consultant Rene Gonzalez, both running to her right.

So far, they’re both slightly outraising her as all three strive to qualify for public campaign financing. One of the donations to Mozyrsky, while modest in scale, was notable for another reason.

HOW MUCH? $25 WHO GOT IT? Vadim Mozyrsky WHO GAVE IT? Albert Lee WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Lee, who ran against U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) as a Democratic Socialist in 2020, is exactly the kind of activist who powered Hardesty’s campaign in 2018. He’s a former member of the executive committee for the NAACP, Portland branch, and the board of the political arm of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon.

In the 2018 campaign, One Plum Design, a company Lee and his wife formed, gave the single biggest contribution to Hardesty’s campaign: an $19,542 in-kind contribution for a website and graphic design.

Now, Lee’s endorsing and contributing (albeit far more modestly) to Mozyrsky, with whom he worked on the city’s police Citizen Review Committee.

Lee says he prefers Mozyrsky’s style and is disillusioned with Hardesty. “I don’t have the same faith in her abilities I had previously,” Lee says. “I don’t think she can get things done solely on her own.”

NIGEL JAQUISS.

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is not something that can be done digitally,” says Hector L. Garcia, a principal broker at John L. Scott Real Estate. “It is a face-to-face seeing that people are making the biggest financial decision of their lives, and that should be done with trusted servants.”

Neighbors of the Russet house agree.

“It’s like Amazon moving in across the street,” says Andrew Harrison, 43. “I don’t really care for that idea.”

It’s odd for a house to sit vacant in Portland’s red-hot real estate market. Between September 2020 and September 2021, the average price of a residence in Portland increased by 17.5%, from $485,200 to $570,200.

Housing supply is low—with only 3,344 active residential listings in September. That’s about half the number of homes that were on the market in September 2019.

But Zillow still has a lot of inventory to offload.

Zillow bought 151 homes in Multnomah County between March 5 and Oct. 5, according to the county assessor’s office. The company has sold only 22 of those homes, with the most recent being sold Oct. 1.

Most of the sales resulted in modest profits, ranging from $300 to $44,471. On six of the houses, however, Zillow lost money—between $400 and $24,700.

Brokers say the homes that Zillow owns and is now trying to sell in Portland have not depressed the overall market for single-family homes, simply because Zillow does not own enough homes WIND IN THE ZILLOWS: Neighbors say a corporate real estate experiment went poorly along North Russet Street. to weigh the market down.

“Compared to the bulk of transactions that the combined workforce of Oregon realtors does compared to Zillow,” says John L. Scott’s Garcia, “I think it’s just a drop in the bucket.”

Zillow claims to offer the same personal experience as local realtors. A company representative told WW it has responded to neighbors’ concerns in Piedmont.

“Every market we have Zillow Offers in, we have a local broker partner that was established in the area before that we basically team up and they sell our homes and take care of our homes in the same way that they always have in the community,” says Matt Kreamer, a Zillow spokesman. “We sell them in exactly the same way any brokerage in town would sell them, and we use a

BY TO RI LI EBE RM AN tori@wweek.com local brokerage.”

But exiting the homes sales business could be painful.

A house on North Russet Street in the Piedmont neighborhood sold in late The house in Piedmont exemplifies Zillow’s exuberance. Zillow bought the June for top dollar. The three-bedroom, 2,652-square-foot single-family property in July for $661,600 and put it back on the market in September for home, with a brick fireplace and detached garage, sold for $661,600. Two $681,900. After two months, Zillow lowered the price to $609,900, $51,700 months later, the owner put it back on the market. less than what the company had paid for it.

But it hasn’t sold, and the house is still empty. Now neighbors say it is The house is now off the market while Zillow fixes damage caused by a attracting squatters. break-in.

It was Zillow, a publicly traded online realty company, not a conventional “[The house] looks wonderful on the outside, but it doesn’t look as wonhomebuyer, who purchased the Russet Street house on June 29, along with derful as the asking price,” says Dawn Panttaja, 62, a neighbor. “I think 150 other homes in the Portland area it bought over eight months. people drive by and they sort of laugh.” (The assessed value of the home for Zillow, who bought more than 15,000 homes across the country in 2021, tax purposes is $180,390, and the assessor pegs the market value at $496,790. hoping to capitalize on the hot real estate market, announced early in Both values usually lag behind what buyers are willing to pay.)

November that it was no longer buying houses Conventional real estate brokers keep close and would sell many of them. watch on the homes they have for sale, walking “We’ve determined the unpredictability in through them with prospective buyers and gen“ [The house] looks wonderful forecasting home prices,” said Zillow co-founder erally keeping an eye on them. One of the ways on the outside, but it doesn’t and CEO Rich Barton in a Nov. 2 press release, Zillow sought to save money was by reducing look as wonderful as the “far exceeds what we anticipated.” labor costs: Prospective buyers could access Zillow tried to apply artificial intelligence to an homes on their own using a Zillow app to visit asking price. I think people entrepreneurial pursuit that has long been the without a broker. drive by and they sort of province of mom-and-pop operations: buying, In practice, neighbors of the house in Piedmont laugh.” fixing up and flipping single-family homes. With say, that meant low security and easy access for its access to capital, a nationwide data base of squatters. home values, and a brokerage license, the compa “[People] can get right in the back,” notes Pantny hoped to consolidate and streamline a highly taja. fractured business.

Harrison agrees with her safety concerns. “I know that there were needles But to the relief of flippers and brokers across the U.S., Zillow now admits in the garage,” he says. “There’s been food and people showering in [the it got schooled. The house on Russet Street shows what can happen when a house] and camping in the back.” high-tech firm gets its hands dirty in a business that is local and specific to Harrison is fed up with having Zillow as a neighbor. each market.

“I have two kids,” he says. “I’d like there to be actual neighbors [across the “There is a sense of relief and satisfaction understanding that this business street] as opposed to transients.”

Zombielandia Zillow thought flipping houses meant easy money.

A North Portland home shows the downside.

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Ice Castles

A PUBLIC MARKET: “Make it like the Markthal in Rotterdam.

Has housing, food, and retail space. We’ll also need to get something done about the streets so that it sits in a no traffic zone. It could revitalize the whole area.”

—Gary Primack

Six reader ideas for a new Lloyd Center.

BY AA R O N M E SH

the attached. Or, perhaps, in the shape of a key. The streets would be the groundwork of a wholly separate series of structures, spaces or projects. But the streets would be visible in the crop circle shape from the air.

“P.S. There’s also the Nazca Lines to emulate…or both!” —GW Command

amesh@wweek.com

Imagine, if you will, a 23-acre campus for the most downtrodden people in Portland.

It’s a stroll across Holladay Park from the MAX Blue and Red lines, sheltered from winter rain by a glass cathedral ceiling. Inside: apartments for people who would otherwise sleep on sidewalks or in doorways. Women and families get first dibs. Down two escalators, social workers offer addiction counseling and job training. Parking garages welcome RVs. There’s a soup kitchen where the food court used to be.

You’ve already been imagining this, judging from the emails we’ve received about future uses for Lloyd Center Mall.

Last week, WW explored six ideas for the iconic mall going into foreclosure, and asked readers to submit their own ideas to mall@wweek.com. What the lender will actually do remains an open question. (For more on this, listen to this week’s episode of the Dive podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wweek.com.) But by overwhelming consensus, what Portlanders want is clear: America’s largest homeless shelter.

“This is a prime location as a service center for the homeless,” writes Char Pennie. “Not only to address the housing crisis as they freeze to death on the streets of Portland this winter but also as a complete one-stop-shopping service center.”

The appetite for turning the Lloyd Center into what advocates often describe as a “homeless navigation center” speaks to the intense frustration and pity citizens of this city feel in the face of mounting homelessness. But it may also reflect the desire for a grand civic gesture—an action that matches the scale of the moment.

On this page, you’ll find six more ideas we’ve received for the biggest development opportunity in the city. (Several have been edited for length and clarity.)

Keep sending them, and we’ll keep running them until Christmas.

A BOTANICAL GARDEN: “Remove the buildings and parking lots completely and turn the property into Portland’s next park. Let’s make it a botanical garden with community gardens on the edges. It could also host a permaculture training center. A place where people can learn how to farm their yards and a hub for things like The City Repair Project, the Portland Fruit Tree Project, Friends of Trees and the city’s

“I recommend that the developers check out Sawmill Market in Albuquerque, and Pybus Market in Wenatchee. Both ‘grew out’ of old warehouses. They have revitalized their neighborhoods, they support local farmers, wineries and restaurants, and are spectacular tourist destinations.

Sawmill is also located next gto low income and senior housing complexes.”

—Eunice Letzing A YOUTH CLUB AND WORKING-CLASS GYM: “My idea for the Lloyd Center mall is to provide a youth center, housing and necessary day-to-day living measures for the homeless and poor, and a wellness center and gym for the public to use.

“The amount of gym space available to the public is devastating. Unless you pay an incredible amount of money to the MAC, there aren’t many gyms for cheap.

“Many Portland Public Schools have to cut kids from basketball teams because they don’t have the gym space. I run a youth basketball program and we practice outside in the winter…not ideal.” — Jacob Green

FRESH START: A Zamboni smooths the ice on Lloyd Center’s skating rink.

“ The impressive and tall We’re So Sorry We F$@#!d You Over!! Statue (dedicated to the former unhoused, people of color, women, children, the elderly, and the disabled) and the Free Coins & Organic Candy For All! Installations are, of course, open yearround.”

Parks Department. I’m sure we could create something fantastic.” —Albert Kaufman A CLIMATE-TECH INCUBATOR: “So one of Nick Kristof’s priorities as a governor hopeful is to turn Oregon into a hub for climate change tech and green energy. Let’s get some federal + Gates + Bezos + Musk funds to make that happen. Bring together the best minds in green technology, design, building, sustainability, social equity; have some

manufacturing capability to build/showcase prototypes, proofs of concept; bring together leaders and innovators from around the world; run a first-class green tech design training facility. If there’s room, add affordable housing units, tenants can train in green tech! Maybe elsewhere on ‘campus’ we could have a homeless treatment center: transitional and/or indefinite-term housing + onsite therapy and rehab facilities; capable people in transition could train for living-wage jobs in green energy! (A ‘sustainable’ use of our ‘people’ resources!)

“And yeah, keep the ice rink as a nod to the past. Operate it on ‘green’ energy at some point in the near future!” —Mary Senatori A STREET GRID IN THE SHAPE OF CROP CIRCLES: “Greetings, having seen live crop circles near Salisbury Hill, England, in ’96, and knowing some of the patterns might fit in a bare 18 block grid reasonably well, I envision the streets of the ‘new’ community rendered in a crop circle similar to

A MUSEUM OF CAPITALISM: “A little less than half of the mall has been saved both as a living memorial to teens and their times and an ode to the bountiful post FDR-era architecture.

“In between all these new and beautiful places for people and greenery are seven well-placed and stylish five-story affordable housing buildings, in the center courtyard of each is, respectively: a skateboard park, a roller rink, a wild area with stream, pond and lunchtime seating, a big/small dogs park, a large community gardens, a lovely sensory park for kids & the elderly to hang out, and a night-sky observatory with guided tours.

“The oft-quoted & wise Statue of Coins is still at Multnomah & 9th but now fully flows in its place of honor outside the ornate and grand front doors of The Museum of Capitalism and the adjacent Wall of Apologies.

“The museum’s FREE show this month: The Root of All Evil & Anxious Returns, runs through this spring.

“The impressive and tall We’re So Sorry We F$@#!d You Over!! Statue (dedicated to the former unhoused, people of color, women, children, the elderly, and the disabled) and the Free Coins & Organic Candy For All! Installations are, of course, open year-round.” —Linn Groves Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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Every winter, Portlanders retreat indoors.

When rain turns our streets into rivers and wind-walloped trees are finally left bare, those of us who can, transform our homes into cozy cocoons to ride out the next several months, emerging only to restock the beer fridge.

But the pandemic has had us in a cocoon for more than a year and a half, and for many Portlanders, the urge to get outdoors, no matter what the weather throws at us, is stronger than ever.

We’re ready and willing to layer up and embrace the cold, whether that’s snowshoeing around Mount Hood’s frozen lakes, or simply meeting up with a friend for a drink on a covered patio. And with this winter guide we are here to help.

Restaurant and bar owners have already started re-winterizing their streetside hutches, cubbies and tents, and we’ve got 12 great choices for drinking establishments (page 14) across the city.

We sampled the latest hot boozy beverages that bars are rotating into winter drink menus, from a traditional German gluhwein, to a rich Spanish coffee, to something a little more oddball—like an Italian riff on a hot toddy.

We even show you how to become an at-home bartender by re-creating Quaintrelle bar manager Camille Cavan’s recipe for the rum-based Je ne sais quoi (page 15).

This winter, make a plan to escape the city and explore our state’s varied landscape during a season other than summer. We’ve got seven stellar winter hikes (page 18) that lead to glazed-over mountainside lakes, waterfalls hardened into ice sculptures, and craggy capes with views of monster waves. And we’ve found what is, perhaps, the ultimate bucket list item when it comes to places to lay your head: a lighthouse innkeeper’s quarters perched above the Pacific (page 13).

Finally, the west side of Oregon’s skies may not be optimal for stargazing this time of year, but Central Oregon’s dry climate is the perfect place to become an amateur astronomer, so we’ll share a list of the best locations to stare at the cosmos in and around Bend (page 17).

The Scandinavians have long had a term for embracing the darkest days of the year: friluftsliv, which roughly translates to “open-air living.” We’re hoping, just maybe, you’ll abandon our annual winter lock-in and permanently adopt it as a lifestyle, post-pandemic, too.

—Andi Prewitt, Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

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Guiding Light Staying overnight at the restored Heceta Head Lighthouse keeper’s quarters rewards with ultimate storm-watching views and a seven-course breakfast. By Adam Sawyer The Oregon coastline has historically been equal parts may not also be haunted. What’s indisputable, however, is the quality of the classic views from both the lighthouse captivating and hazardous for water traffic. Born from and the lightkeeper’s home. Pro tip: One of the best views necessity, the state’s lighthouses are no longer the once relied-upon structures they were originally constructed of Heceta Head that does, in fact, regularly make its way to be. Thanks to advances in maritime technology, the onto postcards and refrigerator magnets, can be had from beacons along Oregon’s coast have transitioned primarily the Sea Lion Caves just south. into photogenic cultural icons that enjoy postcard-worthy The keeper’s cottage is also a hell of a place to hunker placement. down in inclement weather. Listen to the waves crash But beyond human history and limitless selfie backdrop against the shoreline, watch the raindrops assail the winpossibilities, there is still one illuminated lighthouse that dows of your room, and observe the Fresnel lens-borne affords the opportunity to experience what a treacherous light cast out into the darkness. For brave and appropriatewinter evening on the coast was like from the keeper’s ly attired souls, a time-honored tradition is a hike through perspective. Only your stay won’t include any of the dirty the forest to Hobbit Beach or take a nighttime walk to the work, and you’ll still be rewarded with a lighthouse. If you happen to be there on seven-course gourmet breakfast in the a clear evening, you can watch the beams morning. rotate alternately through forest trees The former lighthouse keeper’s cottage, and out into the Pacific under a starlit 14 miles south of Yachats, has been lovsky. Either way, it’s a privilege reserved Heceta Head Lighthouse ingly restored as the Heceta Lighthouse exclusively for overnight guests, and it is Bed & Breakfast Bed & Breakfast, home to six rooms that magic. If you happen to be staying in the 92072 US-101 South can accommodate up to 15 guests per Lightkeeper’s Room that evening, you’ll Yachats, 541-547-3696 night. And because the lighthouse is a also be the temporary owner of the most hecetalighthouse.com. day-use state scenic viewpoint with no unique nightlight in Oregon. campground, the only way to experience In the morning, a 90-minute, seasonal the light show at night is by staying at the seven-course breakfast is one of the best B&B. on the coast. No worries if you happen to be staying more The 56-foot-tall Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of than one night as the locally sourced menu changes daily.

Oregon’s premier landmarks. The circa 1894 pillar sends You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to end a trip beams 21 miles out to sea and is the brightest light on the or start the day. As Oregon experiences go, it’s one you Oregon Coast. Depending on whom you talk to, it may or should add to your list and put a star next to it.

GO

PHOTOGRAPH BY ADAM SAWYER

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Boedecker Cellars

2621 NW 30th Ave., 503-224-5778, boedeckercellars. com. 2-6 pm Wednesday-Thursday and Sunday, 2-7 pm Friday-Saturday.

The industrial hinterlands of Northwest Portland don’t automatically sound like an enticing environment for happy hour. But the area has actually long been home to craft beverage producers, starting with Portland Brewing Company, which is to say, if your product is good enough, people will make the trip and won’t mind drinking next to a factory.

Boedecker Cellars actually predates many of the breweries now dotting the landscape, rolling its first barrels into the area 13 years ago. The tasting room, situated inside a former warehouse, sprawls out onto a concrete pad near the entrance. To make the space more comfortable, staffers set up black bistro sets and tall propane heaters, and even drape the sole picnic table in a black-and-white checkered cloth. A wall constructed out of stacked barrels doesn’t completely hide the view of the industrial site across the street, but the effort is appreciated and it extends the aesthetics of the interior, which doubles as an aging facility, out the front door.

This time of year, add a mug of gluvine ($6.50) to a traditional wine flight. The piping hot drink is a blend of Boedecker’s reds. Completed with orange slices, cinnamon sticks and star anise, the resulting flavor is a cross between cinnamon raisin bread and snickerdoodles—making it a holiday drink you’d imagine grandmothers must ladle out to only the very best carolers. ANDI PREWITT.

for

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BOEDECKER CELLARS

Brasa Haya

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BRASA HAYA

Portland’s patios are bundled up for a second pandemic winter.

Here’s where we’ll be getting cozy with warm cocktails, mulled wine and ciders this season.

412 NE Beech St., 503-288-3499, brasahayapdx.com.

5:30-10 pm Tuesday-Saturday.

These days, there’s a different kind of house party happening at this King neighborhood property.

Those familiar with Beech Street Parlor before it closed will recall that the two-story bar and its seven-night-a-week DJ lineup regularly packed the front porch with so many people the converted home looked more like a residential rager than a business. Ever since Brasa Haya took over the 1906 American foursquare, the patio has appeared as though it’s prepared to host a more ordered and subdued soirée—one where an award might be presented or book of the month discussed.

The wrought-iron accented house has been given a fresh coat of white paint with black trim to mark its transition into a high-end, Spanish-inspired restaurant. In addition to seating on the multilevel stoop, there are a handful of tables inside a driveway cubby, all beautifully set with white cloth napkins and silverware in anticipation of diners.

On windy evenings, the breeze can pick up on the patio. Brasa Haya has two methods to help warm your bones: Sidle up to Mr. Heater, a beehive-shaped device perched atop a propane tank,

and then order the Brasa Carajillo ($15). Though only open since June, the restaurant serves a traditional Spanish coffee that’s already one of the best in town. Rich chocolate vies for dominance with locally roasted Junior’s brew and a cool cloud of amaro whipped cream. Start your meal with a glass and then have a second at the end—you’ll be justified because the decadent Carajillo appears on the dessert menu, too. ANDI PREWITT.

Cascade Brewing Barrel House

939 SE Belmont St., 503-265-8603, cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 1-10 pm Friday-Saturday, 1-8 pm Sunday.

In the colder months, Cascade Brewing typically serves glueh kriek—a spiced cherry beer that gets the name “glueh,” meaning glow, from the red-hot pokers traditionally used to heat mulled beverages in Germanic cultures. The brewery aims to have a batch ready to serve by Christmas, so in the meantime, satisfy your craving for something hot and spiced with the mulled apple sour ($6 for 4 ounces, $9 for 8 ounces).

The base of the drink is a mixture of red and blond ales, which go through a three-step fermentation process in which baking spices, vanilla beans, cider and wildflower honey are all added to the blend at different stages. The result is a delightful sour with a thick head when initially poured. This may sound like a backhanded compliment, but the mulled apple sour is a terrific drink for your friend who doesn’t like beer, and the Barrel House’s always-buzzing patio is also now equipped with plenty of lamps blasting enough heat to satisfy your other friend who’s always cold. SUZETTE SMITH.

The Garrison

8773 N Lombard St., thegarrisonpdx.com. 5-10 pm Monday-Saturday.

The Garrison is an unpretentious little neighborhood bar like any other in St. Johns—except for the fact that while you might feel like a moron trying to order a drink made with mezcal and yellow chartreuse anywhere else on Lombard, here it is expected. You can also get lost in nerdy cocktail conversation.

“It’s piney, but not too minty,” the bartender says of Braulio Amaro, the main ingredient in the Garrison’s winter drink. Which is to say, it’s not at all like Fernet. Braulio is made in Valtellina, Italy, near the border with Switzerland, with more than 20 mountain herbs and botanicals. The Garrison puts it to work in an Italian hot toddy ($10), served in a warm ceramic mug with Old Overholt Rye, amaro, honey and lemon.

Because the Garrison is part of a micro-business complex, the patio is actually a courtyard shared with salons and restaurants. Its picnic tables and counters fill up with patrons ordering not only drinks, but also food from Gracie’s Apizza, Mikasa Sushi & Ramen and Bolognese pasta pop-up Pastificio d’Oro. Six stools ring a fire pit, but if those are taken, at least you have a hot drink in your hand.

Soothingly lemon forward, and neither too sweet nor too bitter, the Italian hot toddy is an après-skistyle libation, albeit in the shadow of Mount Hood instead of the Alps. JASON COHEN.

RECIPE

Je ne sais quoi Recipe by Camille Cavan, bar ma

nager at Quaintrelle • Photograp

hs by Aaron Lee

Cavan and chef Ryley Eckersley WH EN Quaintrelle bar manager Camille themselves using the term “je ne have business meetings, they often find That indescribable level of elesais quoi” when discussing menu items. happen to order it (off-menu) at gance matches this drink perfectly. If you Cavan will serve the rum-based the Southeast Clinton Street restaurant, s, which she found two years cocktail to you in vintage 1950s brass cup for just the right concoction. ago at Lounge Lizard and had been saving I N STR U C TI O N S :

I N G R E D I E NT S : 1½ ounces Cruzan Black Strap Rum ½ ounce mint tea demerara

Add all contents, except coffee, in a vessel for hot liquids.

1 ounce St. George NOLA Coffee Liqueur

Top with French press coffee, approximately 6 ounces.

¾ ounce Nardini ½ ounce Dolin Génépy le Chamois Liqueur Crude “Big Bear” Coffee & Cocoa Bitters

s Marigold Coffee Daydreamer French pres Coconut vanilla cream

Top with coconut vanilla cream.

Garnish with shaved nutmeg and fresh orange zest.

Voila!

Hi-Top Tavern

5015 NE Fremont St., 503-206-4308, hitoptavern.com, 3-11 pm Monday-Friday, 2-11 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Coffee, tea, or whiskey? No need to choose at Hi-Top, which until recently was the baby of the Old Gold-Paydirt-Tough Luck family (a fifth sibling, Holy Ghost, just opened in Southeast). The Chai Me ($12) is chai-infused rye whiskey with vegan hot Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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butter mix, chocolate bitters and orange zest, while the Amaretto Coffee ($12) spikes a steaming cup of Stumptown Hair Bender with the almondy liqueur.

The latter is finished with cinnamon, a salted Amarena cherry and, to quote the menu, “whipped cream (optional).” Important: Unless you’re dieting or dairy free, you want to take that option.

Hand-shaken by the bartender, the cream melts almost instantly into a cappuccinolike foam atop the cocktail. It’s a fucking delicious drink: the coffee and Amaretto in harmony, the salt and sweetish cherry adding rhythm. And if you let the cherry drop off its spear into the thick glass mug, you get a finish of warm fruit.

Hi-Top’s patio, semi-covered by a metal-andwood roof, is big enough that you could put on rock shows there, and that’s even before you round the corner at the back, where there’s an entire second set of picnic tables, fire pits and heat lamps. By day, the roomy space is chill enough to give you calming coffee shop vibes; by night, there’s room enough to distance, for, y’know…the times we live in…and also room enough to dream of bigger crowds to come.

JASON COHEN.

Laurelwood Public House & Brewery

5115 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-2820622, laurelwoodbrewpub.com. 11 am-9 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 11 am-10 pm Thursday-Saturday.

While best known as a brewpub, this Northeast Sandy institution also has a full bar in front of all those tanks and kegs, with a seasonal hot drink special right now that puts a spotlight on two other local makers: Portland’s New Deal Distillery and Ryan’s Juice in Hood River.

Laurelwood’s pear apple cider ($10) starts with non-alcoholic Ryan’s Apple Cider, mulled in a slow cooker with “fall spices”—kudos for not using the omnipresent seasonal “p” word—and ladled into a warmed glass mug with honey, lemon and New Deal Pear Brandy.

There’s plenty of room to imbibe at Laurelwood’s longtime flagship, which is also now its sole location. The semi-secret upstairs deck is equipped with heat lamps, but the hotter spot, if you will, is the patio that’s right by the back door and parking lot, which has six seats around a homey fire pit, plus two big benches and two little tables. There’s also ax throwing at Celtic Axe Throwers in one corner inside (proof of vaccination and masks required), and two more warming drinks are coming soon: one with coffee and the other, Laurelwood’s stalwart Grampa Sam’s Hot Buttered Rum, which is based on an old family recipe. JASON COHEN.

PHOTOGRAPHS, THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT: COURTESY PINK RABBIT, COURTESY PRODUCE ROW, ANDI PREWITT

Pink Rabbit

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232 NW 12th Ave., 971-255-0386, pinkrabbitpdx.com. 4 pm-midnight MondayThursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday, 6 pm-midnight Sunday.

Even before Pink Rabbit transformed its curbside patio into an outdoor discotheque, the Pearl District bar’s collection of picnic tables were consistently full. In late October, the narrow parklet was sparse, lacking heaters and a sturdy overhead shelter, its only frill found in the green strip of turf carpeting the ground. Yet the energy from the dining room seeped over to the sidewalk—fuchsia-hued neon cast a warm glow while a speaker hidden near the entrance blasted the bar’s soundtrack of ’70s funk.

But not even the most vibrant music and signage can ward off the chill of a Pacific Northwest winter, so thankfully Pink Rabbit has fortified its patio.

There is now a corrugated metal roof, a standing

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propane heater for every table, and plans to enclose the side of the hutch facing 12th Avenue. And to better coordinate with the bar’s flashy interior, the structure is adorned with mirror balls, string lights, additional speakers and—by the end of November— living plant installations.

Pink Rabbit’s vibe may be flamboyant, but the top-shelf toddy ($18) sips like counterprogramming—it is restrained, mellow and deeply comforting. A perfect showcase for an aged spirit—in this case, Westward Whiskey finished in pinot noir casks—this is the type of drink you could rely on to soothe a sore throat, clear clogged sinuses, or simply lull you into a NyQuil-like stupor to get through winter. ANDI PREWITT.

Produce Row Cafe

204 SE Oak St., 503-232-8355, producerowcafe.com. 11 am-11 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-midnight FridaySaturday, 11 am-9 pm Sunday.

When Produce Row reopened this past January, it felt like a small step toward normalcy. At that point in the pandemic, the city had lost a destabilizing number of restaurants, so the return of this 47-year-old institution had to buoy the spirits of anyone invested in Portland’s dining scene.

Plus, it meant the courtyard was back—Produce Row’s highly sought-after, year-round patio.

In summer, the top comes off, leaving only the red metal framework and pendant lights overhead.

Now, as we head into winter, a clear plastic film is a barrier between you and the elements, still providing stellar views of those wonderful bluebird days the season occasionally blesses us with. Produce Row also used the time off last year to turn its parking lot into a tent-covered dining room, doubling capacity.

The original terrace will always be our preferred venue because of its farmstand feel thanks to hanging flower baskets lining the perimeter and oldtimey metal signs advertising 5-cent orange soda and Rob Roy Ice Cream, though the assortment of plastic colored chairs look as if they were donated by a public school. The homeroom vibes will fade away, however, with your first sip of one of the toddies ($12). Produce Row tinkers with the classic formula, preparing ours with New Deal Pear Brandy and spiced honey, a combination so relaxing it’s like slipping into a bed made with your favorite flannel sheets. ANDI PREWITT.

The Rambler

4205 N Mississippi Ave., 503-459-4049, ramblerbar. com. 4 pm-midnight Monday-Thursday, 4 pm-1 am Friday, noon-1 am Saturday, noon-midnight Sunday.

The Rambler’s spacious back patio, covered in picnic tables and powerful heat lamps, was always a popular spot, even before the pandemic pushed everyone outdoors. While the sleek front porch fire pit holds an aesthetic allure, stick to seating in the rear. The rectangular concrete structure is awkward to sit around and doesn’t give off much in the way of heat.

Of the two hot drinks on offer during our visit, the Doctor’s Girlfriend ($11) won us over, even though the multistep process to make it can feel interminable. The bar’s take on a hot buttered rum features raisin chai-spiced butter, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and hot water that serves as a nice substitute for an adult hot chocolate. The Rambler uses real whipped cream to boot, topped with fresh-ground nutmeg. Hot toddy fans should opt for the Wonder Twins ($11), made with spiced pear syrup, Maker’s Mark, lemon juice and grated cinnamon. SUZETTE SMITH.

RingSide Steakhouse

2165 W Burnside St., 503-233-1513, ringsidesteakhouse. com. 5-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 5-9:30 pm Friday, 4-9:30 pm Saturday, 4-9 pm Sunday.

Perhaps the most unlikely place you’d expect to find a pandemic patio is at Portland’s premier steakhouse. It’s not easy to imagine carving into one of RingSide’s prime dry-aged rib-eyes while seated in the parking lot along Burnside. But the nearly 80-year-old meat palace pulled off outdoor service by installing a sprawling tent next to the back entrance and dressing it to the nines.

To reach the grand canopy, your tuxedo-clad host will guide you across the dimly lit dining room, through a private event space and, finally, out the rear door directly into the tent, which means you’ll never step foot on pavement. RingSide has laid down faux-wood flooring and enveloped the space in artificial emerald leaf privacy screening—there’s even an entire jungle of foliage sprouting behind an inviting ruby red banquette. The focus on decorating with fake plants was deliberate, and RingSide wanted to do it right. So the general manager says he went to sources who would know where to buy the best imitation greenery: doctor and dentist offices. The result is less waiting room than wedding reception meets tropical-themed prom.

This being a classic steakhouse, the wines-bythe-glass menu is deep, but RingSide always has a lineup of seasonal mixed drinks. If you’re the kind of person who counts down to pumpkin spice latte season but also always wishes you could ask your barista to spike it with booze, the Great Pumpkin ($14) is filled with those familiar autumnal flavors— nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, gourd. And since the tent is filled with standing heaters, you won’t have to chug your cocktail to ensure it doesn’t get cold.

ANDI PREWITT.

Rum Club

720 SE Sandy Blvd., 503-265-8807, rumclubpdx.com. 3 pm-midnight daily.

The deck at Rum Club is tricked out for winter: covered, well-heated and romantically lit. While you wait until Dec. 1 for the hot buttered rum to hit the menu, a seasonal favorite served through February, the hot toddy (off-menu, $9-$12) is worth a visit. Made with your choice of whiskey (wells are J.T.S. Brown and Wild Turkey 101 Rye), Bénédictine, cinnamon and allspice, it’s the kind of drink the bartender tells us will hit the spot if you’re the type of person who likes two bags in your tea. The orange-rind garnish is more than just a pretty decoration, adding a hint of citrus followed by a bitter punch. SUZETTE SMITH.

Stammtisch

401 NE 28th Ave., 503-206-7983, stammtischpdx. com. 3-10 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-11 pm FridaySaturday, 11 am-10 pm Sunday.

If you’re a beer nerd, then you go to Stammtisch for its steady flow of rare imports that have cemented its status as one of the finest German drinking halls in the city. But at least once a year, skip the stein and order something hot, spiced and sweet.

Gluhwein ($9, $12) is more than just a hand warmer for chilly evenings. In Europe, its flavors define the holidays as much as peppermint, pumpkin and gingerbread do here. Stammtisch’s version, garnished with a simple yet elegant slice of orange peel, gushes with bold grape notes, and should transport you to a version of Germany’s open-air Christmas markets where it snows allspice and clove instead of ice crystals.

Stammtisch’s patio is simple and gets the job done. About half-a-dozen wooden booths occupy the sidewalks on two sides of the building. The beige carports covering the tables aren’t much to look at, but when it’s raining sideways in December, you bet you’ll be glad they’re there. ANDI PREWITT.

Aim for the Stars

Central Oregon’s clear skies make it an ideal place for stargazing. By Nicole Vulcan

N

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BRENTDAVISPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

ext time you’re getting down, look up.

Amid a global pandemic, racial and environmental reckonings, and ongoing political divisions, gazing at the heavens and contemplating the fact that everyone—yes, even your least-favorite ex-president, is just a speck of stardust—may be the ticket to the Existential Express. So when Portland’s skies are a cheerless shade of slate, the clear expanse above Central Oregon is ready for your celestial meanderings.

way to take in the bounty, but Sunriver is also home to the Oregon Observatory, the largest observatory in the country open to the public. It operates yearround, and reservations are required for nighttime visits.

Recently added to the Dark Sky roster is Prineville Reservoir State Park, which became Oregon’s first International Dark Sky Park in May. Camping along the shore practically ensures you’ll be lulled to sleep by a beautiful view of the Milky Way.

DARK-SKY LOCATIONS

Thirty minutes east of Bend, the well-appointed resort community of Brasada Ranch partners with the Oregon Observatory to offer stargazing experiences several nights a week, largely during the spring and summer, but some winter sessions are available. Observatory staff sets up telescopes outside Brasada’s Range Restaurant & Bar, inviting guests to take a look at star clusters, nebulas, galaxies and more. Those who want more time with the experts can book individualized appointments, like catered stargazing dinners or campouts.

“A lot of people really end up not even appreciating the telescope as much as they do pointing out the constellations,” says Paul Poncy, astronomy interpreter for Oregon Observatory.

After getting some pro tips at Brasada, guests

The first tip for stargazing, says Grant Tandy, observatory manager at Worthy Brewing, is to go where no one else is.

“Not a lot of people realize that Bend is close to the largest section of dark sky in the United States,” he explains. “If you look at a light pollution map, southeastern Oregon—like the Alvord Desert—is the darkest you could get.” Even 20 minutes outside Bend is ideal, Tandy adds.

In Central Oregon, two locales are bona fide dark-sky spots, earning designations from the International Dark-Sky Association, the leading organization combating light pollution worldwide.

Sunriver became Oregon’s first designated Dark Sky Place in 2020. Simply looking up at night is one

STARGA ZE THEN SOAK

“ Not a lot of people realize that Bend is close to the largest section of dark sky in the United States.” can head back to their cabins for a soak. Each cabin comes with its own hot tub—ensuring yet another date with the heavens.

TOASTS AND TELESCOPES Drinking a beer or three may invite celestial contemplation all on its own, but at Bend’s Worthy Brewing, stargazing is part of the brewery’s DNA. Worthy Garden Club’s Hopservatory contains a 16-inch research-grade reflector telescope and a 4-inch refractor telescope as part of its focus on environmental stewardship. While technically in Bend, where astronomical population growth means growing light pollution, observatory manager Tandy still sees value in having an observatory here.

“We’re not going to be able to image objects like you would at Pine Mountain Observatory,” the University of Oregon’s physics research observatory 34 miles southeast of Bend, he says, “but we’re reaching people where they’re at.”

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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From High Waves to Hard Freeze DIFFICULTY KEY PARKS SCARE ME DIRTY BOOTS WEEKEND WARRIOR SASQUATCH

High Waves Cape Disappointment

Difficulty: Parks Scare Me Distance: 2.5 miles The name certainly doesn’t inspire much confidence. But the “disappointment” here has nothing to do with this promontory’s views. In fact, a good rule of thumb for destinations along the Pacific Northwest coast is, the more dubious the name, the more breathtaking the view—see Devils Punchbowl or Cape Foulweather.

Bar Often, the boiling bay or precarious w ie v Re peak in question earned that distinction because the seascape is so stunning it presents a hazard.

And Cape Disappointment is no different. The headland where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean is one of the most treacherous bar crossings in the world. It was slapped with its label by English captain John Mears, who sailed near the cape in 1788, couldn't find the river’s entrance, assumed it was a bay and called the whole mission a bust.

Whatever sort of deterrence the name had for early explorers, visitors today aren’t fooled. Campsites and picnic tables fill quickly on summer weekends, but even in winter, the site beckons plenty of storm watchers. To find the best views of waves slamming against the rocks, walk to the state park’s Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center rather than opting for the easy drive.

From the Cape Disappointment Trail, push up a fern-lined hill that spills out onto a small bluff above Waikiki Beach, typically covered in a tumble of driftwood. About a half-mile in, you’ll spot signs of human-made structures that have long been obsolete. These are the remains of Fort Canby, established in the mid-1800s as a harbor defense for the Columbia and maintained until the end of World War II. You’re free to use the old gun batteries as an archaeological playground, but do so with caution—the dark corners and rusted, doorless hinges can trip you up if you’re not paying attention.

If there is any sort of actual letdown on this hike along Cape Disappointment, it’s that the Coast Guard cut off trail access to the oldest operating lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest. But you still get a stunning perch at the interpretive center from which to view the weathered structure. Now you’re just shy of the southernmost point on Washington’s coastline, and on the edge of a continent that feels like the end of the world. The swirling river and pounding surf below won’t let you soon forget that last part. ANDI PREWITT.

Cape Perpetua

Difficulty: Parks Scare Me Distance: 1 mile Most hikes make you work to reach the attraction, whether that’s water cascading down a rock face hidden deep in the forest or a stunning 360-degree view from a mountain’s summit. But if you happen 18

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY KARSTEN WINEGART

to be driving by Cape Perpetua at the right time of day, you can spot one of the headland’s most dramatic spectacles from the seat of your car.

During high tide, and whenever storms push onshore, the Spouting Horn shoots seawater dozens of feet into the air, making the explosion of spray and mist visible from Highway 101. The sight must have caused more than a few drivers to hit their brakes—a parking Blowh ole lot sits on the west side of the road for curious onlookers. But the 2,700acre scenic area and its wealth of remarkably unique geological features demand to be explored beyond the boundaries of the rest stop.

Start at the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center and take the paved Captain Cook Trail, which winds slightly downhill through thickets of salal umbrellaed by spruce. After using an oversized culvert to tunnel safely under the highway, you’ll spill out onto a cliff overlooking one of several narrow coves, where waves work themselves into a foam by repeatedly slapping against ancient lava formations protruding into the Pacific. Veer left and, in a third of a mile, you’ll reach the ocean geyser. Formed when the sea’s surges widened a fracture in Cook’s Chasm, the horn spouts skyward when the surf funnels enough air and water into the cave, building pressure that eventually needs to be released.

In other words, it’s Oregon’s Old Faithful.

Don’t miss nearby Thor’s Well, another geologic anomaly where water appears to go down rather than up. The collapsed sea cave looks like a bottom-

less sinkhole, constantly filling and emptying like a drain in the world’s largest bathtub. ANDI PREWITT.

Shore Acres State Park

Difficulty: Dirty Boots Distance: 1.4 miles Thanks to the jutting sandstone rock formations along Shore Acres State Park and the way the tides interact with them, the Coos Bay area has become a mecca for storm watchers from across the country. When conditions are i Ts un am right, swells can create crashing walls Aler t of water over 100 feet high. If you’ve ever seen photos on social media of water exploding skyward at the coast, odds are it was at Shore Acres—home to the largest, most intimidating wave breaks in the Northwest.

However, the Sunset Bay and Shore Acres state parks area has a lot more going for it than crashing waves and a scenic coastline. The park is home to, among other things, a top-tier botanical garden and a strikingly beautiful 1.4-mile loop hike. To pick up the trail, begin your trek about a quarter-mile past the entrance to Sunset Bay State Park. The path leads directly to a cliff-edge view of the bay and Cape Arago Lighthouse in the distance, before bending back into the forest. This pattern continues as the trail meanders toward Shore Acres, delivering a number of life-affirming views, then skirts along a geologically interesting stretch of waterfront before arriving at the observation building at Shore Acres State Park. To leave, use the broad path

encompasses the cascade is transformed into a breathtaking frost palace.

The trek leads down to a bridged crossing of Hood River’s East Fork. Take a right and ascend to a canyon viewpoint. The trail drops to a junction where you’ll stay left, cross another bridge, and arrive at the falls. Massive icicles that take on the size and appearance of an inverted crystalline forest flank the falls on either side, making the snowshoe trip an entirely unique endeavor. The boulders of Cold Spring Creek are transformed into snow-covered islands of white—winter breadcrumbs leading snowshoers to and from the falls. ADAM SAWYER.

Silver Falls State Park

PHOTOGRAPHS THIS PAGE BY ADAM SAWYER

on the left that enters the forest, turning right at a junction for a short climb to the trailhead. ADAM SAWYER.

Hard Freeze Mirror Lake to Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain

Difficulty: Weekend Warrior Distance: 7.7 miles There’s a good reason why the trailhead to Mirror Lake looks as intimidating as a Best Buy parking lot on Black Friday. Just as deeply discounted flat-screens hold near-universal appeal, this hike possesses almost every attribute an outdoors enthusiast seeks: a crysIce tal-clear lake, awe-inspiring views of k in R the state’s highest summit, and trails that vary in difficulty to satisfy a variety of ambitions. But if the throngs of visitors in spring and summer have kept you away from Mirror Lake, winter ushers in more solitude.

A trailhead reconfiguration in 2018 brought some much-needed order to the precarious parking situation on the shoulder of Highway 26, and a lengthened trek to the pool of water, though you’ll hardly notice during your approximately 2-mile walk there. As you cross several creeks, remember to thank a Forest Service worker. They helped install 10 new bridges that were airlifted in during the route remodel.

Once you reach the lake, hang a left for a tour of Mirror’s circumference. The iconic view of Mount Hood admiring its own handsome reflection can be found at the end of a boardwalk on the south shore, but the glacial circle has likely frozen over by now. Still, nature’s skating rink stuns with its own unique beauty found in alternating shades of blue, silver and stone.

For a photo opp that hasn’t appeared in every hiking guide, wall calendar and Instagram feed, continue up a trail to the right of the lake. You can see your destination rising in the distance: Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain, but unlike its name suggests, not everyone does this segment. In fact, you could end up tackling the two long switchbacks alone.

Once at the top, you’ll stare down at a pocket-sized mirror—an odd perspective given how large it felt just a short time earlier. ANDI PREWITT.

Tamanawas Falls

Difficulty: Dirty Boots Distance: 3.5 miles One of the best bang-for-the-buck hikes around Mount Hood, the Tamanawas Falls Trail is a major draw for waterfall hunters. The well-graded, 3.5mile round-trip route showcases a sublime patch of exemplary mountain 's a E ls landscape complete with a pristine e c Pala creek and dense forest—the coup de grâce being the broad, 110-foot Tamanawas Falls. It’s a splendid hike in summer or fall. In winter, however, the amphitheater that

Difficulty: Parks Scare Me to Weekend Warrior, depending on route chosen.

Distance: Up to 7 miles One of the crown jewels of the Oregon State Parks system, Silver Falls is hardly a secret. In fact, if you visit on any given sunny summer afternoon you’ll likely be hiking butt to gut with hundreds of your nature-loving neighS ilver bors. And who’s going to blame you? g L inin With 10 named and iconic waterfalls, swathes of old-growth forest, and a dramatic volcanic landscape, its popularity is more than justified.

But as with almost any of the state’s well-loved hiking spots, winter tends to mitigate visitation, luring those who are truly in it for the love of the game. That said, Silver Falls State Park is easily the best spot for wintry waterfalls in the Willamette Valley. The scene is surreal when the eerie quiet only amplifies the sounds of cascading water, and the crackling of ice echoes through distant canyons.

It’s a big park, and the extent of your explorations will be guided by road and trail conditions. It’s not unusual, for example, for certain sections of the Canyon Trail or steep, paved segments of the Rim Trail to be closed when things ice over. But large sections of forested paths and most or all of the major viewpoints tend to remain accessible—in particular, viewing areas at South Falls, North Falls, and pullouts along the road between the two. ADAM SAWYER.

Salt Creek Falls

Difficulty: Dirty Boots Distance: 4.4 miles Just steps from the trailhead, the views overlooking Salt Creek Falls and its enormous canyon are worth the Sno-Park permit price of admission. Because of its location near Willamette Pass, the area sees plenty of snow and ice in winter. And, at an impressive 286 feet, Salt Creek Falls is one of the tallest accessible waterfalls in High the state. It’s like those wintry Multe D iv nomah Falls photos you see, but on steroids. In addition, the 4.4-mile, 400-foot elevation gain loop visits another unique beauty, Diamond Creek Falls, a cascading carrot to lure you beyond the overlook.

From the Salt Creek Sno-Park, snowshoe down the road toward a fenced observation area beyond an interpretive kiosk. After you’ve taken in the view, go back toward the kiosk and begin the loop by heading upstream about 300 feet to a signed trail. Turn right, walk past a picnic area and carefully cross Salt Creek on a footbridge, continuing into a frosty forest populated by snow-burdened boughs of Douglas fir and Western hemlock. Follow the blue diamonds to a junction leading down to Diamond Creek Falls. Continue straight another 350 feet and you’ll arrive at the upper viewpoint. The veiling falls spread wide and descend 120 feet over basalt steps and fissures. Take a left at the junction and enjoy an easy descent back. ADAM SAWYER. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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STREET

KWANZAA ON KILLINGSWORTH Photos by Brian Burk On Instagram: @bpburk

As part of the Soul Restoration Project residency at 14 NE Killingsworth St.—a storefront that was famously once a feminist bookstore called In Other Words—Portland State University professor Darrell Grant collaborated with community members to plan a pop-up market: Kwanzaa on Killingsworth. Not satisfied merely to sell artwork and artisan goods, the day also hosted a performance by blues and gospel singer LaRhonda Steele and conversation between visual artist Bobby Fouther and author D’Norgia Taylor-Price.

There’s still one more chance to take part in the fun and buy local goods from Black creators and businesses: The last Kwanzaa on Killingsworth of 2021 is open from noon to 5 pm Sunday, Dec. 19.

20

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BUY 4 WASHES, GET 2 FREE! 503 CAR WASH Please see our website washmanusa.com to order or the location nearest you

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Join us Nov. 26th for Black Friday limited-edition Record Store Day vinyl releases or shop our great selection of new & used vinyl, CDs & movies

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Open daily 11 - 6 • Closed Thanksgiving Day DOWNTOWN • 1313 W. BURNSIDE • 503.274.0961 EASTSIDE • 1931 NE SANDY BLVD. • 503.239.7610

YOUR BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE WWEEK NEWSROOM

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Introducing Lace Up Walkabouts from Kyrgies Find them at Kyrgies.com

Protect those who are protecting us.

Get vaxxed. careoregon.org/vax 22

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COVID-19 has killed nearly four thousand Oregonians. And every day, doctors, nurses and other health care workers risk their lives to keep that number from rising. You can help. COVID vaccines greatly reduce your chances of hospitalization. That not only protects you, it protects health care workers and our community. Please get vaxxed today.

WILLAMETTE WEEK’S

G U T I D F I E G 2021

WHEN YOU WANT A GIFT that says you care about the little details, you shop locally. It’s another way of caring: putting holiday spending back into our hometown. We’ve worked with some of our favorite Portland shops and brands this year to present you a list of gifts that all help to lift spirits as we wait out this pandemic in the winter months. Please support these local retailers, and stay tuned for our second gift guide, out on Dec. 8.

Literary Journal

$20.00

Northwest Review

Mini Electric Guitar by Loog

$150.00

Give a Brick Today! $125.00 Pioneer Courthouse Square

Grasshopper

7 Gifts for Anyone on Your List

Locally published literary journal featuring poetry, prose, interviews and art. Featuring Portland artists and also writers from around the world. nwreview.org

2019 Gamay Noir $25.00

Orleans Hot Sauce $10.99

August Cellars

Hot Winter Hot Sauce

A tiny 3-string electric guitar with a built-in amp and speaker!

This guitar reduces chords to the basic triad, allowing for an easier and faster learning process.

Comes bundled with flashcards, an app that teaches you music through AR, and free video lessons.

This holiday season join the over 82,000 Portlanders who own a piece of our City’s Living Room.

Buy a personalized brick in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Gift wrapping available!

1816 NE Alberta St grasshopperstore.com

715 SW Morrison St thesquarepdx.org

Holiday Scratch-itsSM

$1-$20

Oregon Lottery

Gamay Noir is a bright happy red wine. It is a perfect pairing for starchy foods as the bright cranberry notes cleanse your palette and leave you ready to enjoy the next bite or the conversation being had.

14000 NE Quarry Road, Newberg | augustcellars.com

Named for the small California town where I developed the Hot Winter Pepper, our Orleans hot sauce features a golden cayenne, lending it a brighter heat than the typical red, with notes of tropical fruit. Like all of our sauces, the Orleans is made with all Organic ingredients, including all Oregon grown peppers. hotwinterhotsauce.com

Five festive and fun designs make Holiday Scratch-its the perfect answer for all the question marks on your gift list. You can find them virtually anywhere, even up to the last minute. They’re perfect for white elephant exchanges, stocking stuffers and more. Make the holidays jolly with Oregon Lottery Scratch-its!

Distiller’s Reserve Wheat Whiskey

$39.95

New Deal Distillery

oregonlottery.org/holiday

Crafted from Oregon-grown soft winter wheat, this accessible sipping whiskey is mashed, fermented, distilled, and aged right here in Portland. Beginning with brown sugar and caramel aromas, this light bodied whiskey follows with notes of straw, fig, toasted grain, and butterscotch. Excellent neat, on ice, or in whiskey forward cocktails.

Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only, not investment purposes. Odds and payout vary by game.

900 SE Salmon St. newdealbottleshop.com

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6 Gifts Absolutely Worth the Splurge

4 Gifts that Keep on Giving Discover Cider Club $50-$60 per quarter, plus tax, shipping & handling

Kyrgies Walkabouts

Martini Pendant Price varies, setting starts at $268

$89.00

Kyrgies

Finex 12” Cast-Iron Skillet with Lid

$300

MiaDonna

The nation’s premier craft cider club ships expertly selected Northwest ciders direct to your door. NW Cider Club is the perfect one-of-akind gift for foodies & craft beverage lovers! Quarterly, Discover Club members receive six unique ciders along with tasting notes and pairing suggestions. December’s club release features Big Sky Country ciders!

Four walls can’t contain you—or your Kyrgies. With our new Kyrgies Walkabouts you can walk out of the house and into your day in warmth, comfort, and style thanks to our new super durable crepe-style soles.

With that cool Tengries style you love (you know you do), Kyrgies Walkabouts look and feel great.

nwciderclub.com/join/

kyrgies.com

The Beatles Let It Be Deluxe Box Set $159.95

Cascade Valley 0.25g Rainbow Party Pack $25.00

Everyday Music

Green Goddess Remedies

This Super Deluxe Edition includes 27 unreleased session recordings, a 4-track Let It Be EP, the 1969 unreleased 14-track “Get Back” stereo LP mix, a 100-page hardback book with an intro by Paul McCartney, track-bytrack recording information, and many unseen photos, notes, and more.

1313 W Burnside & 1931 NE Sandy Blvd everydaymusic.com 24

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 17, 2021 wweek.com

Choose your own adventure or share the love with the Cascade Valley Party Pack!

Each pack has 14 pre-rolls with 7 different color-coded strains to explore. These are full flower, hand-rolled, and potent. We love’em! They are easy to share and a great way to explore the kaleidoscope of cannabis.

5435 SW Taylors Ferry Rd greengoddesspdx.com

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of reach of children

Northwest Cider Association

The 3 Prong Martini Pendant is a beautiful, delicate pendant, set with a round cut center stone on an 18 inch chain. Build your pendant just the way you want it by selecting from 14K white, yellow or rose gold, lab grown diamond, lab-grown diamond or gemstone. Starting price of $268 is for setting only.

10250 SW Greenburg Rd., Ste. 125, Portland miadonna.com

Membership to pFriemsters Union Local 541 $129.99

Designed to be the most loved piece in your kitchen, destined to be an heirloom. Heavy-gauge cast iron forms a foundation for even cooking across any heat source. FINEX castiron cookware got its start right here in Portland, pioneering a movement that elevated cast-iron cookware to an art form.

4 Portland Area Stores kitchenkaboodle.com

Neo + Terp Surfer

$349.00

Prrl Labs

pFriem Family Brewers

Receive a full twelve bottle mixed case of six premium Barrel Aged pFriem beers (two of each) every season. Plus enjoy your exclusive pFriemsters Union extras including exclusive beers, members only events, educational opportunities, tasting Room & online discounts, unique member gifts & merchandise, and hotel discounts 707 Portway Ave, Ste 101, Hood River pfriembeer.com

SPONSORED CONTENT

Oregon cannabis is delicious! Why burn it? This dynamic duo will unleash flavors and effects that the flower lover on your list never dreamed possible. By toasting, not burning, you savor a truly full spectrum experience direct from the flower. Without the cough. Without the stink. Without the stigma. Taste what you’ve been missing! ptrrllabs.com

6 Gifts to Inspire Holiday Celebration Cocktail Sampler Pack Gift Card

$39.95

Gifts for Gathering

$20-$95

Compassion & Grace

$25.00

Straightaway Cocktails

Woonwinkel

Boedecker Cellars

Featuring six Straightaway bottled cocktails: Limited Edition Maple Old Fashioned, Lintik, Negroni, The Swizzle, Margarita and The Cosmos.

Behold, the Holiday Classic Set of Hi-Fi Cocktails and holiday tunes. The perfect gift for a cocktail-curious friend, or as an introduction to our array of potent and astonishing cocktails.

Add some colorful zing to your together-time. Whether it’s your regular pandemic pod, a reunion, or a family hunker-down, these gifts make gathering more fun. A sustainable microwaveable popcorn popper, a playful serving board, a puzzle challenge & more, all created by small or American businesses.

This is a lively Willamette Valley Pinot Noir with earthy undertones and sweet cherry and raspberry flavors, a wine for oenophiles and casual wine lovers. We’re donating 5% of sales to StreetRoots. org; dedicated to helping the houseless in our community too.

901 SE Hawthorne Blvd straightawaycocktails.com

935 SW Washington St woonwinkelhome.com

2621 NW 30th Avenue store.boedeckercellars.com

Magic Bubbly

Select Cliq Pods

Price Varies

Salishan Lodge

A Taste of Oregon

$83.00

Willamette Valley Vineyards

Enjoy a Taste of Oregon with this gift pack complete with a handmade Myrtlewood cutting board in the shape of Oregon, a handcrafted jar of local strawberry jam and a bottle of our 2019 Estate Pinot Noir.

8800 Enchanted Way SE, Turner wvv.com/holidaygifts

$4-96

Magic Number Beverages

Curaleaf

$36 +tax

3:1 Blueberry Lemonade CBG/THC Pearls

$20.00

Electric Lettuce

Cheer in the holidays with Magic Bubbly, Oregon’s only handmade sparkling apple cider with 50mg Mimosa live resin. Fresh-pressed apples, elderflower, and hibiscus combine with single-strain cannabis to create a delicious, all natural alcohol alternative for the modern age.

Raise a glass of this limited seasonal release with friends and family!

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5103 NE Fremont Street

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16 locations electriclettuce.com Willamette Week NOVEMBER 17, 2021 wweek.com

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of reach of children

7760 North Highway 101, Gleneden Beach salishan.com

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of reach of children

Give the gift of travel with an easy to use electronic gift certificate.

Gift certificates are valid for use at Salishan Coastal Lodge including The Spa at Salishan, Salishan Golf Links, Provisions Market and The Attic Bar & Lounge.

25

Sand Art

$30 - $120

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Photo Slates

$35-$75

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12” Gold Gorillas $29.99 each City Liquidators

7 Gifts for Making A Home Soothing and relaxing sand art.

Turn the sand picture over to watch the sand work its way through the air in the water to create mountains and valleys.

Wall-mounted and desktop styles available.

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Teapot Gift Set

$40

Tea Chai Te

Unique Photoframes

$9 - $100

Get your photos printed on a natural, hand cut material. No two are the same. Imperfections in shape, size, and coating make for an exciting, unique way to present your photos. Purchase instore, online with in-store pick-up, or to ship to the photographer in your life anywhere in the US. 1112 NW 19th Ave print.prophotosupply.com

Canvas Wraps

$36 & Up

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26

823 SE 3rd Ave

Pet Music Icons Prints & Pillows

cityliqs.com

$34.99

City Liquidators

Treat a loved one to this cute teapot gift set! Includes one ceramic glazed 18 oz teapot that has stainless steel infuser basket and lid, choice of one tin of Tea Chai Te tea blend, Lil Tea Note Pad and Tea Wheel and holographic TCT teapot sticker. Teapot available in Gold, Black, Grey, Lime or Aqua.

Our frame shops carry photo frames in sizes (2x3” to 8x10”), in an array of styles from real, natural wood, leather, slate, metal, stone, acrylic, and beaded fabric.

Selections vary by store, but each store carries frames in black, white, silver, gold, and wood tones such as maple and walnut.

Get your photos printed on beautiful canvas wrapped around a wooden, ready-to-hang frame.

Choose from sizes between 8” x 8” squares and 40” x 60” frames.

Available for purchase in-store, online with in-store pick-up, or to ship as a gift to anyone, anywhere in the US.

NW 23rd Ave, Sellwood & N Mississippi teachaite.com

1238 NW Davis pnwframing.com

1112 NW 19th Ave print.prophotosupply.com

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 17, 2021 wweek.com

Gold Gorillas doing yoga. 12 inches tall, 3 poses to choose from. Great gift for the yoga enthusiast in your life.

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“These are real pets, not real celebrities.”

823 SE 3rd Ave

cityliqs.com

6 Gifts for the Committed PNW Lifestyle ’Shrooming Tee

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The 64-ounce uKeg Go by GrowlerWerks is the most convenient, most affordable, most “go anywhere” growler ever. Pressurized and insulated for cold freshness, in a vessel optimized for quenching thirsts on the go. Durable, lightweight, easy to use, and ready to rock!

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Wedding Cake

by JD Grown Starts at $9.18 Per Gram

Marshmueller

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Be the envy of every gift giver at the holiday gathering with this super cute, super practical, yet super Oregon Bib and Burp Cloth Bundle.

Designed and Handmade in Astoria, Oregon, by a parent (because duh). Machine washable (because also duh).

Get a curated gift box containing Portland-made pantry items, such as chili oil, artisan chocolate, confections, preserves and unique spice blends. Featuring products by Wildwood Chocolate, Three Little Figs, Sao Noi, Bollywood Theater and Oregon Bark

A staple in the JD Grown lineup for more than 4 years, this sweet and potent strain is grown in Cocoa, utilizing a full two week flush method this flower will burn with white ash and a flavor that is delicious all the way through.

marshmueller.com

81 SE Yamhill St

cargoinc.com

SPONSORED CONTENT

8700 SW Barbur Ct & 9810 E Burnside St

naturalremediespdx.com

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 17, 2021 wweek.com

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of reach of children

Embrace your wild side with this super-soft, relaxed ’Shrooming tee from Etta and James Jct. Also comes in a cozy hoodie and two other color options, Mist and Coral. Forage on, you never know what you’ll find.

This comfy knit beanie designed by Wokeface is embroidered with a third eye and comes in a rainbow assortment of colors. Fits most head sizes and is sure to keep you cozy while also helping you achieve higher consciousness.

27

Daily Matcha Green Tea

$20.00

Restful Night

$99.00

Daygold​

Lelo Ina 3

$179.00

She Bop

Mizuba Tea

Whisper Bidet

$89.00

a tiny shower for your butt®

Mizuba’s Daily Matcha is habit forming, and it’s easy to see why – this Portland-local & woman-owned tea company’s matcha is direct from small farms in Uji, Japan. Their matcha is of the highest quality and is the smoothest you’ve ever tasted. Bonus: it’s easily found at local markets & coffee shops. Grab a few tins for gifts all season long! Take 15% off with code: WWMATCHA online.

Lull the body into nourishing relaxation and rest with Daygold’s Restful Night. This tincture features CBD, CBG, CBN, and THC (<0.3%), as well as botanical terpenes from Lavender, Clary Sage, Eucalyptus and Citrus to give it a taste and aroma that soothes the mind and body before bed.

mizubatea.com

daygold.com

Birkenstock Zermatt Wool/Shearling $99.95

Let It Cocoa!

Care Package Starting at $50

Footwise

The best gift stuffed in your stocking!!! The critically acclaimed rabbit vibrator has been upgraded once again! Explore your body with this beautiful dual-action massager from LELO boasting 30% more power and ten different vibrating settings to stimulate all your jingle bits.

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Pink Package

$47

Pike Road Wines

Tender Loving Empire

Spread holiday cheer with the gift of a cleaner rear.

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Never felt cleaner.” —Yan N.

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The first true Birkenstock slipper, featuring the iconic Birkenstock footbed you know and love. The wool straps and shearling lining will keep your feet extra cozy this winter. Available in both kids and adult sizes.

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1433 NE Broadway

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 17, 2021 wweek.com

footwise.com

Find the perfect uplifting gifts & care packages from TLE like ‘Let It Cocoa!’. Shop care packages online or stop into one of their 6 locations to build your own with locally & independently made home goods, art, tasty treats, jewelry, apparel, kids items, music & more! Shop small, create change.

412 SW 10th Ave + 5 other Portland locations tenderlovingempire.com

SPONSORED CONTENT

For the rosé lover: a trio of pink wines 100% grown in Oregon’s Northern Willamette Valley. This Pink Package from Pike Road Wines includes the fruit-forward 2020 Pinot Noir Rosé, the festive 2020 Sparkler Rosé and the spirited 2020 Hog Wild Rosé. Cheers!

105 West Main St, Carlton pikeroadwines.com

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of reach of children

7 Gifts For Every Type of Self Care

6 Gifts For The Budding (or Pro) Photographer Sony Alpha 7R IV Mirrorless Camera

$3,499.99

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Canon EOS R Mirrorless Camera Body

$1,599.99

Nikon Z 7II Full Frame Mirrorless Camera

$2,999.99

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The Sony Alpha α7R IV Mirrorless Camera brings incomparable image quality and processing speed to the α7R series. Enjoy pro level usability in a robust compact body for confidence, flexibility, and freedom. Purchase in-store, online with in-store pick-up, or ship as a gift to anywhere in the US.

Versatility is key with the Canon EOS R. Whether capturing landscapes, wildlife, wedding portraits, or dance performances, the EOS R is an impressive imaging tool that’s primed to deliver the stunning photos and videos that photographers, moviemakers and any visual storytellers need to make their stories fly. Available for purchase in-store, online with in-store pick-up, or to ship to the photographer in your life anywhere in the US.

The Nikon Z 7II full frame mirrorless camera has the largest full frame mount in the industry — so you can capture Every. Last. Detail. Available for purchase in-store, online with in-store pickup, or to ship to the photographer in your life anywhere in the US. Nikon Inc., limited warranty included.

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1112 NW 19th Ave

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Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR Lens

$799.99

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Sony’s FE 50mm F2.5 G lens delivers high resolution and beautiful bokeh in an ultra-compact lightweight package. Its high speed autofocus ability keeps up with the most demanding cameras. Purchase in-store, online with in-store pick-up, or to ship to the photographer in your life anywhere in the US.

Pro Photo Supply The RF 70-200mm F4 L IS USM is a telephoto length zoom lens that delivers high image quality while being compact and portable, as Canon’s shortest and lightest 70-200mm f/4 lens to date, making it the perfect travel companion. Available for purchase in-store, online with in-store pick-up, or ship to the photographer in your life anywhere in the US.

One lens, so many possibilities. The NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens is a versatile zoom lens that covers every style of shooting with remarkable true to life detail. Purchase in-store, online with in-store pick-up, or to ship to the photographer in your life anywhere in the US. Nikon Inc., limited warranty included.

1112 NW 19th Ave

1112 NW 19th Ave

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Willamette Week NOVEMBER 17, 2021 wweek.com

29

Name:

Lyndra’Niesha B. Role:

Direct Support Pro ALSO Employee Since:

2019 Likes:

Motivational Speeches

ALSO is hiring.

Are you looking for the kind of job where you can make a difference every day? Join our virtual hiring event weekly on Wednesdays, 10 AM and 3 PM. Visit heartworkoregon.com for more info.

PORTLAND’S MOST IMPORTANT STORIES SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX

Why do we feel that investing in the community is so important?

Because of the sizable returns.

We are proud to have served our customers for over 160 years. With that pride comes the knowledge that we have an even greater responsibility to the community at large.

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Together with numerous charitable organizations, we’re working together to make this the kind of place we can all call home. And that’s the biggest return of all.

NW Natural believes in the power of community and we are proud to support the nonprofits in Give!Guide 2021.

STARTERS

THE MOST IMPORTANT PORTLAND CULTURE STORIES OF THE WEEK—GRAPHED.

READ MORE ABOUT THESE STO R I E S AT WW E E K .CO M .

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COMFORT SHOES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Immersive art exhibit and light show Beyond Van Gogh opens at the Oregon Convention Center and promptly gives our Arts & Culture editor vertigo.

SUZETTE SMITH

November 26th - 29th

J U S T I N YA U

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In the continuing saga of a promotional vending machine selling some of the world’s food wonders, the Gastro Obscura machine is at Pix now.

Tequila- and mezcal-focused bar Holy Ghost opens in Creston-Kenilworth, and the neighborhood’s famous feral peacock roosts on its roof.

ABIGAIL HALL

BLACK FRIDAY

C H E R Y L WA K E R H A U S E R

COURTESY OF ARDBEG

Ardbeg sells some of the smokiest-tasting Scotch whisky in the world and is driving it on a tour of Oregon in all-terrain vehicles.

WW publishes the active homebody sibling magazine to Finder, our long-standing guide to going out. Nester is about staying in and sprucing up your home.

Mon-Sat 10-6pm Sunday 11-5pm

1433 NE Broadway St Portland • 503 493-0070

Open daily at 8am.

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C O U R T E S Y O F A R T I S T S R E P E R T O R Y T H E AT R E

Tired of cereal?

We'll make you some eggs!

Artists Repertory Theatre appoints Luan Schooler as interim artistic director.

She’s been at ART since 2015, serving as director of new play development and dramaturgy.

www.JamOnHawthorne.com SERIOUS

Open for indoor & Now accepting online outdoor dining!

pre orders for 7Mother’s days a week - 2pm Day8am Brunch!

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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­

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Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug | For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older | Keep out reach of children 32

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

GET BUSY

STUFF TO DO THIS WEEK IN PORTLAND, HOOD RIVER AND EUGENE.

SEE | Willy Wonka and the Chocolate

Factory Get a two-year head start on prepping for Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka (2023) with the original film based on Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel. An eccentric candy man (Gene Wilder) invites five lucky winners on a tour of his exceptionally dangerous chocolate factory. He then proceeds to eliminate these children one by one as his Oompa Loompas sing and dance along to their misery. Academy Theater, 2818 SE Stark St., 503-252-0500, academytheaterpdx.com. 6:50 pm Wednesday, Nov. 24. $4-$5.

☛ DO | Testify Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Party The night before Thanksgiving is a time-honored biggest bar night of the year, so take advantage of Holocene’s annual pre-T-day dance party as an opportunity to sweat for the feasting to come.

DJ Bryson Wallace spins funk, soul and rare Brazilian psychedelia. Fans are promised a Carl Sagan good time, so there will be beats but also vibes. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 9 pm Wednesday, Nov. 24. $5 before 10 pm, $10 after. Proof of vaccination required for entry.

�GO | La Fête du Macaron Starting on Thanksgiving, Pix Pâtisserie celebrates its annual La Fête du Macaron— this year via its two Pix-O-Matic vending machines. All 24 flavors of the French pastry and cake shop’s macarons (from pistachio to salted caramel to birthday cake to bourbon) will be sold in Pix’s two automats, vended in groups of six different flavors per box. There’s also a coloring contest. Pix Pâtisserie, 2225 E Burnside St., pixpatisserie.com. Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 25-28. Pix-O-Matic vending machines available 24 hours a day in the outside foyer of Pix.

�GO | Alesong Thanksgiving Weekend

Open House While most people reserve Thanksgiving weekend to wander wine country, when Willamette Valley producers throw open their doors to the public for special tastings, food pairings and events, Alesong sees you, neglected beer drinker. The award-winning Eugene brewery, which you must normally make an appointment to visit, is hosting an open house Friday through Sunday. You can expect complimentary tours on the hour, a lineup of new fall beers, and a menu of dark stouts on Black Friday. The drive alone is worth it— Alesong’s countryside taphouse is one of the prettiest in the region. Alesong Brewing & Blending, 80848 Territorial Highway, Eugene, 541-844-9925, alesongbrewing.com. Noon-6 pm Friday-Sunday, Nov. 26-28.

�GO | Fermentation Journeys Book Launch New York Times-bestselling author Sandor Katz could’ve chosen any brewery to celebrate the launch of his latest book, Fermentation Journeys, but it seems appropriate that he chose one with a name that highlights the process that turns sugars into alcohol. Ferment established itself as a top-tier beer destination in the Columbia Gorge upon opening in 2018. Founder Dan Peterson, a microbiologist by education who began brewing as a hobbyist before going pro, produces stellar Pilsners, saisons and IPAs, which you can enjoy as Katz describes his latest work—a cookbook with 60 recipes highlighting the revival of the fermentation arts—and then demonstrates how to make pao cai, or Chinese pickles.

Ferment Brewing, 403 Portway Ave., Hood River, 541-436-3499, fermentbrewing.com. 5 pm Monday, Nov. 29.

☛ DO | Blue Collar Wrestling Worldwide Presents: Go Stuff Yourself If you love the pomp and circumstance of pro wrestling, you don’t have to go far to get your in-person fix. Blue Collar Wrestling started holding matches at Holocene just before the pandemic got going, but the wrestlers had a long history at the Eagle’s Lodge before that and a growing reputation for fun shows that regularly sell out.

Holiday weekends are wild cards, so you may still be able to squeeze your way into a folding chair. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 3:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 27. $12. Proof of vaccination required for entry.

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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FOOD & DRINK TOP 5

Hot Plates WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.

1. Zuckercreme

414 SE 81st Ave, 317-366-6938, instagram.com/ zuckercreme. 10 am-6 pm Wednesday-Saturday, weekly pop-ups 10 am-4 pm Sunday.

Following a summer of successful themed pop-ups (Strawberry Museum, among them), Brittany Sigal decided to keep monthly themes moving through her Montavilla cafe: Zuckercreme. November is pie month and every Sunday she hosts bakers at the coffee shop’s tables—making it into an impromptu little market. During the week, there’s a much chiller vibe of “damn fine” Mutt’s coffee, baked goods and a corner of consigned local wares. “I’m from the Midwest,” Sigal says, “and I think I accidentally made a Cracker Barrel.”

2. Wild Thing

A Tour of Two Fermentations

Coffee roaster Push x Pull and chocolatier Cloudforest have something in common, other than deliciousness.

BY MICHA EL Z U SMA N PHOTOGRA PHS BY T HOMAS T EA L

FERMENTATION IS MAGIC. Happy, helpful bacteria nosh away at whatever edible they set upon. Deliciousness results.

Beer and wine are the most obvious examples of fermentation’s wonders.

But, for lesser-known fermentation fun, consider chocolate and coffee.

In particular, two Portland purveyors have harnessed this magic and operate must-visit storefronts. Even better, the two shops are just a few minutes walk from one another: Push x Pull provides a cup above the rest, and Cloudforest’s chocolate can brighten even the grayest winter day.

1483 NE Alberta St., wildthingpdx.com. 10 am-3 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

Pearl District restaurant and wine bar Arden recently debuted its little sister cafe, Wild Thing.

The entirely plant-based menu centers on buildyour-own bowls with a base of brown grains or mixed greens rampaged by fruits, vegetables and nuts from all shades of the color wheel.

Wild Thing has been a three-year project in the making from Arden owner Kelsey Glasser. The cafe also serves its very own label of canned wines and cold-brew coffee made in collaboration with Never Lab.

3. Quaintrelle

2032 SE Clinton St., 503-200-5787, quaintrelle. co. 5-10 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

Mississippi fine dining spot Quaintrelle reopened in late August on Southeast Clinton with a noticeable upgrade. Chef Riley Eckersley and bar manager Camille Cavan stayed on and built out the former Burrasca location into the kitchen and bar of their combined dreams. There are now splurge-worthy five-, seven- and ninecourse tasting menus with available add-ons and drink pairings, along with an à la carte menu. Eckersley continues his uncanny knack for drawing from wherever his culinary interests take him—a fish sauce here, freshly foraged mushrooms there, and a touch of Spanish flair.

Plates always look like art, and also taste like it.

4. Purrington’s Cat Lounge

3529 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-3343570, purringtonscatlounge.com. 9:45 am-6 pm Thursday-Sunday.

Be warned that Purrington’s, Portland’s only cat cafe, regularly sells out its weekend sessions—45-minute reserved slots for an assortment of singles and small groups. However, sitting outside the cat enclosure can be almost as delightful as being inside, especially since the realities of social hierarchy dictate that all adults must take a backseat to the wonder of well-mannered kids fixed on petting all available cats. This particular incarnation of the lounge is still new—co-owners Garret Simpson and Helen Harris bought the business from the original owners in 2019 and renovated the space.

You can thank Simpson’s food and wine background for the cafe’s above-average snacks, which include a vegan board of carrot hummus, sunflower seed dip and kale pesto, served with baguette and veggies for dipping as well as an indulgent cheese board sourced from local monger Cowbell.

5. Brasa Haya

412 NE Beech St., 503-288-3499, brasahayapdx.com. 5:30-10 pm, Wednesday-Sunday.

Indoor seating not ADA accessible, vaccination required to dine indoors.

A new Spanish restaurant in a converted home that was formerly Beech Street Parlor, Brasa Haya is a fine(r) dining restaurant with textbook salt cod croquettes. The portion was too small to split effectively, but this is a problem inherent to tapas, not Brasa Haya.

GOOD MORNING: Push x Pull is known for perfectly pulled espresso shots.

34

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

TOP 5

Buzz List

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

COFFEE MAY BE ubiquitous in our city, but Christopher Hall, the 37-yearold co-founder of coffee roaster and cafe Push x Pull, possesses a singular focus on natural process beans, to the extreme delight of those in the know.

If more proof were required beyond perfectly pulled shots and captivating cortados, Hall cheerfully discloses that his toddler’s middle name is Bean.

Hall’s effervescent attitude and core of longtime employees (one, Emma Reeves, is now a co-owner) corroborate his frequent invocation of “community” as PxP’s overarching theme.

“Natural process” refers to fermentation of the entire coffee cherry after harvesting. American coffee snobs have long turned up their noses at these coffees as funky and inconsistent.

Not Hall. While learning the specialty coffee craft at Lovejoy Bakers a decade ago, he developed an affinity for the “wilder” flavored samples that came his way.

“I remember that first Ethiopian natural I had totally blew my mind. The fruit-forward flavors, the exploration of what the fruit has to offer, that’s what I was so drawn to in naturals, and still am,” Hall says. Indeed, fruit, chocolate and earth in nuanced variation characterize the natural process coffees from Africa and Central and South America that compose PxP’s regular rotation.

Off flavors are entirely absent, a quality Hall calls “clarity.”

Hall credits better and more transparent practices all along the supply chain in tandem with the relationships he’s fostered with farmers and his other suppliers. Hall’s roasting acumen and equipment—a tiny 2-kilogram roaster will give way next year to a 15 kg model—are factors as well. For my money (and the growing circle of PxP regulars), these coffees are far

superior to the relatively one-dimensional washed-process varieties that dominate elsewhere.

A SHORT DIAGONAL southwest from PxP, along busy Southeast Morrison Street, Ecuador native Sebastian Cisneros displays his edible art in a tidy, bright but inconspicuous boutique: Cloudforest.

“There is a magical exchange of volatile compounds,” Cisneros says. He’s describing the process where cacao pods are splayed open and the mélange of pale pulp and dark seeds are laid bare to the sun.

“Acids released from microorganisms feed on the fruity flesh covering the seeds,” he says, “inoculating them with new structures that will transform into yummy flavors during drying, roasting and refining.”

Fermentation, Cisneros adds, “is essential in all fine chocolate making” to remove bitter compounds and replace them with desirable fruity, caramely and, “above all, chocolaty” flavors.

Cisneros is a veritable alchemist of the local chocolate scene.

He first managed to produce wonderful bars more than a decade ago under the brand name Cocanū. Back then, he worked during the wee hours, relying on primitive equipment, in the basement of Kenny & Zuke’s deli. As his production facilities evolved and he took the name Cloudforest, his flavored and pure varietal bars easily exceeded any chocolate produced locally and most of the “artisan” chocolate manufactured by better-known names.

Despite Cloudforest’s low profile, this is still the case.

Valentina, a 75% dark chocolate sweetened exclusively with maple sugar, is brilliantly executed and ele-

gant in its simplicity. Cisneros cites his Nest bar, flavored with brown buttermilk and spices, as a far more ambitious endeavor that “took weeks and pounds of failed batches to fine tune.”

A visit to the shop (or the Cloudforest website) reveals an abundance of additional choices, ranging from the vanilla-infused Orchid bar to the Holy Wood: flavored with woodsy-herbaceous and reputedly medicinal palo santo. The namesake Cloudforest bar is refined solely from Nacional-type cacao beans grown in Ecuador’s Camino Verde orchard.

Cisneros has also begun to extend his reach beyond bar chocolate. Summer brought ice cream made from cacao pulp, tasting of fruit with the barest whisper of chocolate flavor, and a hazelnut-chocolate spread suited to spoon right on top.

Hall and Cisneros are travelers on the same path, though they barely know of one another. United in their grasp of fermentation and its capacity to deepen and enhance flavors—like the winemakers and brewers before them—they are the passion-driven culinary savants that have made Portland a food lover’s wonderland. As luck would have it, an outing to sample their wares requires only a simple urban excursion.

DRINK: Push x Pull, 821 SE Stark St., pushxpullcoffee.com. 8 am-2 pm Monday-Friday, 8 am-3 pm SaturdaySunday (indoor and outdoor seating).

EAT: Cloudforest, 727 SE Morrison St., 503-893-2614, cloudforest.shop. 10 am-7 pm Thursday-Monday (outdoor seating only).

1. Moon Room

930 SE Oak St., 971383-1613, eclipticbrewing.com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Thursday, noon-10 pm FridaySaturday, noon-8 pm Sunday.

Earlier this month, Ecliptic Brewing opened its first spinoff taphouse, Moon Room. An extensive remodel by local architect firm Koble Creative lent the former Base Camp Brewing building a spacier atmosphere—meant to evoke visions of the moon’s surface. However the beer selection is anything but empty, with over 15 beers on tap and some brewed on the premises—there’s room for 30, so this is just the beginning. Brewmaster John Harris also added a sizable gin-focused cocktail program—an idea born from the pandemic while he experimented as an at-home bartender.

2. Cooperativa

1250 NW 9th Ave., Suite 100, 503-342-7416, cooperativapdx.com. 7:30 am-9 pm WednesdaySaturday.

New to the menu at the Pearl’s Italian market, the World Vermut Tour flight comes with three 3-ounce pours to remind drinkers that—to quote bar manager Joel Schmeck—“really killer vermouths” are made internationally and domestically. Alongside Spanish Lustau vermut rosé and Cnia Mata red vermouth, Cooperativa features Son of Man’s “Someday” vermouth. Made with the Basque-style Sagardo cider, brewed in Cascade Locks, this dry white warps the vermouth category—a category known to have few requisites other than being made with wine. The cloudy yellow bottle carries tart sips of kumquat and rhubarb.

3. Midnight Society

3341 SE Belmont St., themidnightsocietypdx.net.

4 pm-midnight Tuesday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday.

When it’s an option, vermut de la casa is the best and cheapest vermouth choice you can make—and is assuredly the least FDA approved.

Midnight Society co-owner and bartender Estanislado Orona makes two secret-menu blends. The white combines Dolin Dry and Padró & Co.’s Myrrha Blanco with saline to give the sweet and nutty mix a tang, like sour verjus. The red is a mix of Dolin and Cocchi Storico reds, set over cacao nibs for a week. The first sip is cherry cola and fudge. As it mellows on ice, clove and banana come out.

4. Speed-o Cappuccino

402 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-7544371, speed-o-cappuccino.business.site. 7:30 am-5 pm Monday-Friday, 10 am-4 pm SaturdaySunday.

In the summer, most of Speed-o Cappuccino’s staff served drip coffee and Spanish cortados (a cappuccino that’s equal parts espresso and milk), wearing hot pink crop tops and booty shorts. The cart’s brunch menu is equally bright and colorful enough to wake up diners or restore them after a long night at neighboring Coffin Club. The Glory Bowl toast plate’s smorgasbord of peanut butter, banana slices, almond granola, coconut shavings, cocoa nibs and honey are the sweetest breakfast sex pun south of Voodoo Doughnut.

5. Black Rose Market

6732 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503894-9698, instagram.com/blackrosemarket_ woodlawn. 9 am-11 pm Monday-Wednesday, 9 am-11:30 pm Thursday, 9 am-12:30 pm FridaySaturday, 10 am-10 pm Sunday.

At North Portland’s Black Rose Market, owners Keith and Kirin Johns make shelf talkers—similar to the notes you see on the stacks at Powell’s— with handwritten information about some of the products they carry. The notes point out that a Flying Embers hard kombucha donates money to aid fire relief, that Joyroot Tea is Black-owned and brewed in the Pacific Northwest, and that Premium Northwest’s “PNW” lager is Keith Johns’ favorite, an honor given to only one beer in the shop. Brewed in Johns’ hometown of Tukwila, Wash., by a two-man team, it’s a beer Johns stakes his reputation on as “better and cheaper than Rainier.”

PRECIOUS CARGO: Cloudforest’s chocolate bars are carefully considered, down to their distinctive packaging.

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FOOD & DRINK THOMAS TEAL

BAR REVIEW

STICKER SHOCK: Nightingale’s ahi tacos hit the spot but cost $16.

Even when Nightingale is bustling, it’s quiet and subdued.

BY C AMPY D R A P E R

Tucked in a corner above the bar at Nightingale, a little skeleton figure sits on a spinning disco ball. If it is possible to lock eyes with an inanimate object, I did so as R.E.M.’s “Losing my Religion,” played overhead. That moment sort of summed up Saturday night at the intimate cocktail spot: catchy and strange, good but perhaps not fun.

Located on Northeast 28th, in the former Cardinal Club location—a welcome neighbor to Angel Face and Navarre—Nightingale has fought the good fight, staying open during a pandemic.

There’s something subdued about Nightingale, even with a decent weekend turnout of groups dining both inside and out—on the bar’s festive but understated streetside patio. My partner and I elected to sit at the bar to shorten the supply-chain logistics for getting our drinks.

Nightingale’s cocktail menu consists of well-conceived concoctions, bearing wry but comfortable music metaphor titles like “The Piano Is Drunk” and “Lou Reed’s Leather Jacket.” The house’s signature bitters appear in many of the drinks and can be purchased bottled to go.

In this house, we stan smoky mezcal, but if there’s a flaw in the list of Nightingale’s signature selections, it’s that they tend to be a bit homogeneous in their flavor profiles. Of the four drinks sampled, they all had some kind of “peaty” cast to them, owing to the liberal deployment of mezcals, scotches, and smoked bitters. If that’s not in your particular boozy strike zone, Nightingale also offers a great selection of wines and affordable beers on draft.

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THOMAS TEAL

Learning to Fly

To go along with your potables, there’s a simple but effective menu of Mexican morsels. Snacky botanas like ceviche, queso fundido, and guacamole con totopos. And more substantial small plates if you’re on the hungry side of peckish.

The food is good, but not singular. And $16 for three tacos is a bit on the high side for what you get, but the ahi tacos did hit the spot.

So much of the vibe was probably thrown off by the music and its seeming lack of curation. “Losing My Religion” is an excellent song, but sort of a downer and out of date in an unintentional way.

The rest of the playlist bounced from the Beatles to Oasis to Kings of Leon.

Looking around the bar, it’s warm and inoffensive, with low lighting and neutral tones. Other than the Nightingale branding on the water carafes and some interesting wooden tiling along the walls, there’s little in the way of art. That is, until you go into the all-genders restroom, where you’ll find an explosion of color in the form of a very cool mural that covers every wall. And a framed illustrated heart sits next to the paper towels that cheerfully and literally says, “Fuck you.”

Nothing about Nightingale’s ambience is bad all by itself. It just feels piecemeal and lacking a strong point of view.

And that’s the biggest takeaway. Everything Nightingale does is good. Good drinks, good food, good ambience. Good. Not great. But that’s OK. Good is good. Nightingale is a serviceable place to gather before going off to do other things. Right now, though, the party is elsewhere. But with some tweaks, it could be here.

EAT: Nightingale, 18 NE 28th Ave., 971-254-9017, nightingalepdx.net. 5 pm-midnight ThursdaySaturday, 5-11 pm Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.

POTLANDER

60 Ounce Special

$

Indoor Flower

Six strains that want to slide in your munchie mentions.

Medical Patients

BY BRIA N N A W H E E L E R

Weed is an invaluable Thanksgiving side dish.

Whether you’re riding a solitary wave, cutting up with friends and fam over green bean casserole, or spending the day clocked in at time and a half, the right cultivar can take your Thanksgiving from ordinary to phenomenal.

This Thanksgiving, take your cousins, co-workers or snuggie for a “walk” with one of these appetite-stimulating, emotionally uplifting strains. Most will hit beautifully if taken about 20 minutes before dinner. Regardless of what’s on the menu, the vibes will be exceptional and the food will taste amazing.

Zurple Punch

Oregrown’s Zurple Punch cold-filtered nectar has been in my dab rotation for a while, unfailingly delivering munchies with each giggly, couchlocking high. Zurple Punch could be a great start to your festivities, but it could also be a smart recovery smoke to ease users into a halftime digestion haze, before tickling them back awake with a lust for dessert.

Expect a lemony, piney exhale that will expel all types of demons from your lungs before launching into a cashmere-fuzzy head high and melty body buzz.

Get it from: Oregrown, 111 NE 12th Ave., 503-4776898, oregrown.com.

Super Lemon Haze

Just because the pre-dinner smoke sesh has a reputation for delivering bleary-eyed diners to the holiday table doesn’t mean you can’t blow an entire blunt and roll up to your place firing on all cylinders. In fact, strains like Super Lemon Haze deliver focus-sharpening, energy-bolstering and cognition-fortifying effects that only dissolve into juicy munchies after the effervescent high begins to dim. Even those who prefer heavy-lidded, syrupy effects can appreciate not only the dazzle of haze at the holiday table, but also the wet-mouth munchies that follow.

Expect a bright citrusy exhale and deliciously skunky-lemon perfume.

Get it from: Cannabliss & Co., 2231 W Burnside St., 971-279-5570, cannablissandco.com.

Kush Mints

Kush Mints is a go-to strain for therapeutic appetite stimulation, so it stands to reason there may be a run on this cultivar in the days leading up to the holiday. Bred from a cross of Bubba Kush and Animal Mints, this hybrid’s intoxicating effects are reportedly well pronounced—inspiring users to lean into rosy, sedative relaxation rather than sparkling chatter.

This strain was responsible for some of my most prolific munch sessions of the year, and even had me convinced that Cracker Barrel was my favorite restaurant after I hotboxed in the parking lot before an ironic brunch. I’m a definition brunch snob, so if Kush Mints can make me feel some way about Cracker Barrel, just imagine what it can do for you

and Auntie’s dry-ass turkey.

Expect a minty, grassy mouthfeel that leaves a brisk peppermint (or toothpaste, depending on your mint associations) aftertaste.

Get it from: Chalice Farms, 823 SW Naito Parkway, 503-501-4612, chalicefarms.com.

Creme Brulee

This stoney cross of Platinum Kush, OG Kush and Girl Scout Cookies is pretty accurately named. Both the aroma and the exhale have the same velvety vanilla, burnt butter and sweet caramel aftertaste of a pâtisserie crème brûlée. But bakery citations aside, this hybrid balances a glittering mild euphoria and a deep, stress-quieting cerebral relaxation. The cotton-soft onset keeps the effects relatively low stakes, and the strain has a therapeutic reputation for not just appetite stimulation, but relief from anxiety, chronic pain, depression and insomnia as well.

Expect both a perfume and an inhale that smacks of day-old French pastries.

Get it from: Floyd’s Fine Cannabis, 1602 N Columbia Blvd., 503-895-9500, floydsfinecannabis.com.

Half lbs starting at $535!

Early-Bird Special 9-11 am Sun 10-11 am

15% off your purchase of regular priced items

Does not include Uku ounce specials or ongoing promotions.

Uku Ounces 5103 Northeast Fremont Street Portland, OR 97213 (503) 477-7254 Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of the reach of children. Offer subject to cancellation at manager’s discretion. While supplies last, strains and testing may vary.

Puta Breath

Another munchiemention© strain I’ve kept in rotation this season, Puta Breath is a brassy, long-lasting indica hybrid that buffs away the rougher edges of a long day while also delivering effects light enough to feel celebratory. This cultivar is a hybrid of local faves Wedding Cake and Mendo Breath. Users familiar with those parent strains can expect a recognizable high that eases them into a deep, complacent relaxation before blossoming into borderline epic snackiness. And bonus: This neon-mellow high can also be enjoyed in more wakeful settings like wandering the snack aisles at Target, zombie-walking to the coffee shop, or faking awareness at the dinner table.

Expect an earthy, piney inhale and a stiff, bitter-wood exhale. ¿Es así como huele mi aliento?

Get it from: Gram Central Station, 6430 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-284-6714.

French Cookies

This rarefied phenotype of Platinum Cookies delivers effects classically linked to both indica and sativa cultivars—which is to say, it energizes like a landrace strain without saddling users with anxious jitters.

It also provides a bone-deep relaxation without couchlocking its fans into oblivion. The high arrives with focused creativity and a gauzy flush of energy, but eventually dissolves into a loose tranquility that is absolutely enhanced by a robust munch. For culinary potheads looking to pregame both cooking and eating, this strain may deliver just the split-level high you’re looking for.

Expect a flowery, botanical perfume and a sweet, heady exhale that pairs perfectly with an extra helping of pumpkin pie.

Get it from: Natural Remedies, 9810 E Burnside St., 503-444-7792, pdxweedz.com.

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PERFORMANCE

Editor: Andi Prewitt | Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com RUSTY TENNANT

MUSIC Written by: Daniel Bromfield | @bromf3

Now Hear This

Listening recommendations from the past, present, Portland and the periphery.

SOMETHING OLD Alex G has been the “internet’s best songwriter” for longer than you might expect. His first album, Race, came out in 2010, and yet it’s incredible to think that it came out closer to the Strokes’ debut than to today: It predicts both the bedroom-pop wave and the ’90s revival, even as its odd ragtime influence and unpredictable mix make it sound like little else. Previously available only in unmastered Bandcamp form, it’s now available everywhere else, and though it’s been remastered, keep your finger close to the volume button in case the mix gets weird.

CENTER STAGE: Actress and playwright Jane Comer finds humor and beauty in the midst of pain in Becoming Understood, a three-part program about her life.

I, Actress The marvelous and mischievous Jane Comer reflects on life as a trans actress in Becoming Understood.

BY BE N N E T T C A M P B E L L FE RGUS O N

“My dad could do anything.”

Actress and playwright Jane Comer repeats those words like a mantra in The Fear of Speaking, one of three performances featured in her festival of work Becoming Understood.

Comer’s description of her father is fraught with double meanings.

She’s talking about how he personally supported her when she came out as a trans woman, but she’s also referring to his failure to acknowledge her as his daughter to others. To Comer, being able to “do anything” can encompass actions both noble and numbing.

It also implies possibilities. As an actress, Comer actually can do everything. She is witty, she is charismatic, she is vulnerable, she is powerful. She can also oscillate from sweeping social commentary to devastatingly personal confessions in a single scene—a talent that flourishes in Becoming Understood, a Fuse Theatre Ensemble presentation that looks into her soul.

Becoming Understood features two live performances, The Fear of Speaking and I Am an Actress: A Passion Play, and one film, Becoming Adorable. I saw Speaking and Adorable, both of which are delightfully exuberant additions to a Portland theater scene that has offered audiences far too little escap38

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

ism to help alleviate the misery of 2020 and 2021.

The Fear of Speaking, directed by Rusty Tennant, has an impish and ingenious premise. Comer is teaching a class for people who are terrified of public speaking, but none of the students have shown up to complete their final assignment, giving a speech. In their absence, Comer proceeds to read their speeches, along with two of her own.

Throughout The Fear of Speaking, Comer craftily uses pop culture to offer insight into her life. An anecdote about her passion for Xanadu: The Musical offers a portrait of the time after she came out as trans and was suddenly denied numerous acting jobs. It’s one of many instances where she cleverly uses a broad topic to lead us into more intimate territory.

The reverse is true when Comer reads a speech by a student named Hortense. Recalling the people she knew who died during the AIDS epidemic, Hortense initially seems oddly callous, especially when she discusses the death of her favorite cake baker. “I did manage to find another baker who made OK cakes, but it just wasn’t the same,” she sighs.

As we listen to Hortense, we learn that detachment is her way of coping with grief. Dithering over her search for a new baker allows her to avoid confronting the loss of her brother, who also died of AIDS—a revelation that rips through the speech like a gunshot. Comer may be playing herself playing another character, but hearing Hortense, you forget that and become immersed in the raw sadness filling the stage.

While sadness is essential to The Fear of Speaking, so is joy. Even as you weep for Hortense, you chuckle at how Comer does her voice, opting for stiff, sludgy delivery that will be

comically familiar to anyone who has felt queasily uncomfortable addressing a crowd. And it’s just the beginning— there’s even more humor to be found in Becoming Adorable, which screens after both The Fear of Speaking and I Am an Actress.

Filmed during the pandemic and directed by Comer, Becoming Adorable stars Comer as Amy Williams, a film critic who solely reviews romantic comedies. With a raised eyebrow, she damns the genre with cheekily faint praise—in one review, she says, “It’s not the best film, but most rom-coms aren’t”—but there’s seriousness behind the silliness.

As Amy defends everything from Love Actually to Loving Leah, a Hallmark Hall of Fame film about a man in love with his rabbi brother’s widow, a poignant perspective emerges. Amy seems aware that romantic comedies can be heteronormative wish fulfillment fantasies, but she sees more. She sees a wondrous optimism and that becomes touchingly real by the end of Becoming Adorable.

If Becoming Understood wants us to understand Jane Comer, what do we learn? Above all that she has a boundless capacity for finding beauty in the midst of pain. Even as she describes how horrified she was to learn that her father kept her transition a secret, she says she tried to love the man he was rather than hate him for not being the man she wanted him to be.

With Becoming Understood, no such negotiation is required. Loving Comer’s creations for what they are is blissfully easy.

SEE IT: Becoming Understood plays at Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd., fusetheatreensemble.com/becoming-understood. 7:30 pm ThursdaySaturday and 3 pm Sunday, through Dec. 19. Free.

SOMETHING NEW The new album from Russian producer Hoavi departs from his usual breakbeat-spiked sound to offer a survey of the past 30 years of dub techno.

Dub techno is a head-expanding genre that’s paradoxically rooted in tradition, and Music for Six Rooms finds a way to corral the entire history of the genre—the rusted samples of Shinichi Atobe, the hashbar ambience of Rod Modell, the nebulous chords Basic Channel made a prerequisite— into a 70-minute mind trip that’s as fun to get lost in as it is physically pleasurable to experience.

SOMETHING LOCAL Shima presents Maya Stoner’s Floating Room project in full rockband mode, and so confident is this longtime DIY fixture that she sounds like she’s floating in air even as she’s screaming.

These four songs are bursting with love: for others (“Firetruck”), for herself (“I Wrote This Song for You”), for her Uchinanchu heritage (“Shimanchu”), for classic pop and rock-’n’-roll songcraft (“See You Around”), and for her partner Mo Troper, a power-pop scholar and sometime WW contributor who acts as producer and multi-instrumentalist.

SOMETHING ASKEW Nite Jewel is one of the earliest and best chillwave acts, and her fantastic 2008 debut, Good Evening, submerges the sound of ’80s and ’90s Los Angeles in thick, murky water. Her voice sounds like it’s emerging periodically for air, the drums sound like rocks hitting a car window, and yet those basslines are so viciously funky that it’s no wonder she’d collaborate with West Coast hip-hop heavyweights like Droop-E and Dam-Funk. Washed Out and Neon Indian get all the love, but if you want to dive into the heart of the stuff, try Good Evening.

SCREENER

MOVIES

GET YO UR REPS I N

Editor: Andi Prewitt / Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) Get a two-year head start on prepping for Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka (2023) with the original film based on Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel. An eccentric candy man (Gene Wilder) invites five lucky winners on a tour of his exceptionally dangerous chocolate factory. He then proceeds to eliminate the children one by one as his Oompa Loompas sing and dance along to their misery.

Academy, Nov. 24.

The Story of a ThreeDay Pass (1968) Unable to break into the segregated American film industry, Melvin Van Peebles headed to France to make his directorial debut. The Story of a Three-Day Pass follows a Black soldier (Harry Baird) on furlough in Paris who strikes up a relationship with a white woman. Screens as part of the Hollywood’s Burn Hollywood Burn! The Films of Melvin Van Peebles series. Hollywood, Nov. 26.

Sunset Boulevard (1950) LOVE THY NEIGHBOR: Front Porches depicts a friendship between two Southeast Portland neighbors, Maggie (Katie Prentiss, left) and Barb (Jill Sughrue), who has dementia.

Chronicling a Long Goodbye Award-winning short Front Porches is a snapshot of the challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia based on the filmmaker’s personal experience.

BY C H A N C E SO L E M - P FE I FER

@chance_s_p

because it’s often the most confusing for people,” Prentiss says. “There is a period of time where [family members] don’t know what’s happening.”

That said, the film deliberately eludes a literal mother-daughter relationship to showcase the kind of “re-parenting” Prentiss observes as a hallmark of her friendships with women. In contrast to the film’s distant husbands and sons, Maggie and Barb open themselves up to both intimacy and neglect as caretakers.

“I think it’s profoundly isolating,” Prentiss says of looking after someone with a terminal illness. “I had young kids at home, and you don’t expect to be caring for your parents. It’s really easy to lose yourself.”

Prentiss producing, directing, co-writing and starring in Front Porches encapsulates her belated, headlong plunge into film in her 40s. Viewing acting as little more than an attempted “bucket list” cross-off, she auditioned for a small role in the acclaimed Portland indie feature Sophie Jones in 2018.

Nabbing that part ignited a new era for the mother of four and 14-year owner-operator of Katie Prentiss Photography. In the ensuing years, she studied acting at Portland’s Scott Rogers Studios at night after work, performed in a half-dozen projects from Oregon shorts to Columbia Sportswear commercials, started forming a production company, and garnered a TikTok following of more than 90,000.

“I think of myself as a late bloomer,”

Prentiss says. “I don’t feel like I have time to waste. There’s an abundance of actors and less than an abundance of roles, especially for women, especially as women age.”

And though portrait photography gave her filmmaking career a head start when it comes to finding the sun dapples of Front Porches’ intimate cinematography and collaborating with subjects to reveal themselves, it’s the vulnerability of acting that Prentiss finds intoxicating. What’s more, embracing a career pivot is the exact kind of risk she says will make her a better actor.

“It’s the thrill of knowing I could do this the rest of my life and still have room to grow that makes me feel so alive,” she explains. “Knowing that the richer life I lead, the richer my acting will be is so cool.”

After winning five awards at October’s IndieX Film Fest, Front Porches will continue its festival run into next year and screen virtually for AARP and Alzheimer’s Association members in February. Prentiss hopes the film can continue creating space for conversations about dementia and the specifics of other families’ “slow goodbyes.”

“With boomers getting older, we’re going to have more and more people that have mental health issues like this,” she says. “I hope they continue research. I just don’t feel like people should have to die from Alzheimer’s or dementia.”

10 Things I Hate About You (1999) This loose adaptation of Shakespeaere’s The Taming of the Shrew features Julia Stiles as a headstrong teen feminist courted by bad boy Patrick (Heath Ledger, in his breakout role), but on duplicitous terms. Arrive early for insight into this rom-com staple’s iconic fashion by costume designer Kim Tills. Hollywood, Nov. 29.

Winter Kills (1979) BLUEPRINT REVIEWS

Portland filmmaker Katie Prentiss likens the loss of her mother to a “slow goodbye,” as frontotemporal dementia caused her personality, lucidity and memory to fade at a gradual, uncertain clip.

And though Margaret Katherine Branson passed away in 2016 at age 69, her long farewell extends and transforms through Prentiss’ new film, Front Porches, as well as through the paragraphs of personal experience Prentiss regularly fields from the film’s online donors and viewers who want to share similar losses.

“Grief has a way of putting us in a club nobody wants to be in,” says Prentiss, whose directorial debut took home Best Oregon Film at this month’s Oregon Short Film Festival. “You look around the room and nobody wants to be here, but I’m glad I’m not here alone.”

Inspired by Prentiss’ caretaking experiences, Front Porches depicts a friendship between two Southeast Portland neighbors. Maggie (Prentiss) is an overwhelmed and underseen mother aching for fulfillment amid the burdens of pandemic parenthood, while her neighbor Barb (Jill Sughrue) is a de facto family member whose own son is estranged. As Barb slips into awareness lapses and delusions, Front Porches isn’t so much a medical drama as a snapshot of a support network splintering and warping.

“It was very important to me to highlight the early stages of dementia

“All right, Mr. Demille, I’m ready for my close-up” is just one of the many superbly written lines from Billy Wilder’s L.A. noir classic. When a struggling screenwriter (William Holden) happens upon a mansion inhabited by a reclusive aging actress (Gloria Swanson), he strikes a deal to write her a starring role in exchange for room and board. Little does he know this will lead to his downfall. Academy, Nov. 26-Dec. 2.

This dark political satire with an all-star ensemble cast (including Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Toshiro Mifune and Elizabeth Taylor) fictionalizes the assassination of President Kennedy. After the screening, director William Richert attends a Q&A. Clinton, Nov. 30.

ALSO PLAYING: 5th Avenue: Good Morning (1959), Nov. 26-28.

Academy: Double Indemnity (1944), Nov. 24-25.

The Glass Key (1942), Nov. 24-25. Gun Crazy (1950), Nov. 26-Dec. 2. Clinton: The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974), Nov. 26. Soy Cuba (1964), Nov. 27. Fearless (1993), Nov. 29. Hollywood: The Return of the King (1980), Nov. 24. Blood Rage (1987), Nov. 26. The General (1926), Nov. 27. Les Blank Celebration (1980), Nov. 28.

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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MOVIES MGM

NOW PLAYING TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

House of Gucci When Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino) learns that his reign over the fashion empire that bears his name is over in House of Gucci, he howls, “I’m dead!

Dead!” It’s a scene that lets Pacino turn hamming it up into high art—a talent he shares with all the actors in this sleek and sumptuous melodrama directed by Ridley Scott. House of Gucci stars Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, who in 1998 was convicted of ordering a hit on her ex-husband, Gucci heir Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). As Patrizia and Maurizio, Lady Gaga and Driver have scorching chemistry—when she yanks him into a bubble bath, their erotic energy nearly vaporizes the screen. Yet House of Gucci is less a love story than it is Frankenstein as a soap opera, with Maurizio as the monster and Patrizia as his creator. She ignites his ambitions, tragically sealing her fate—to be cast aside when he ousts Aldo and takes command of Gucci. With obsessive fervor, Scott drinks in the grotesque magnificence of the Gucci dynasty, savoring their elegant possessions and their operatic emotions. Maurizio Gucci may be dead, but thanks to the palpable enthusiasm of Scott and the cast, House of Gucci has hunger in its eyes, lust in its heart, and the sweet breath of decadence in its lungs. R. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, Cinema 99, City Center, Clackamas Town Center, Cornelius, Dine-In Progress Ridge, Eastport Plaza, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Sherwood, Tigard, Vancouver Plaza.

OUR KEY

: T H I S M O V I E I S E XC E L L E N T, O N E O F T H E B E S T O F T H E Y E A R. : T H I S M O V I E I S G O O D. W E R E C O M M E N D YO U WATC H I T. : T H I S M O V I E I S E N T E R TA I N I N G B U T F L AW E D. : THIS MOVIE IS A STEAMING PILE.

ALSO PLAYING They Say Nothing Stays the Same Every day, Toichi ferries villagers across a remote Japanese river in an unspecified age, watching the construction of a bridge that will mark his obsolescence.

Still, Toichi doesn’t much seem to care, as star Akira Emoto (Dr. Akagi) embodies a weathered loner accustomed to experiencing life, like the wind on the water, just befalling him. The fabulist core of Japanese actor-musician Joe Odagiri’s directorial debut bolsters and deepens its twilight portrait of a community fixture that many passengers view as an Old World inconvenience soon to be resolved. But Toichi is also an impassable conduit for their aspirations, grief and violence unfolding beyond the little-seen banks, especially in the form of an abandoned young woman (Ririka Kawashima), whom he finds floating unconscious in the river and nurses to health. All the while, he questions whether she arrived at his shack as the result of some local crime or by more supernatural means. In this stretch of the plot, despite frequent Wong Kar-wai collaborator and cinematographer Christopher Doyle’s unmatched eye for beauty, the film suffers badly from leaping into interstitials of horror, folklore and dreamscapes nowhere near as convincing as the film’s main visual palette and pacing. Thankfully, it always returns to rowing up and down this boatman’s elegy—poignant, calming and inevitable with each oar stroke.

NR. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. On Demand, Virtual Cinema.

Antlers As far as faux-Oregon movies go, Antlers tries tapping into relevancy. Set in the fictional town 40

of Cispus Falls—but shot largely in Hope, British Columbia—director Scott Cooper’s horror debut tangles with rural poverty, addiction, environmental pillaging and indigenous erasure that literalize into a monster. In this case, the monster is a Wendigo—the cannibalistic, horned humanoid of many Algonquinspeaking tribes’ folklore. In a town analogous to any number of isolated Northwest Oregon highway communities, Keri Russell stars as Julia, an elementary schoolteacher in the midst of an uneasy homecoming. Grappling with her own troubled past, Julia fixates on a frail, introverted student, Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas), whose bloodthirsty family of beasts that appear in his class drawings imply that just maybe all is not well at home.

With her brother the sheriff (Jesse Plemons) in tow, Julia gradually strives to scope out the Weavers’ dilapidated home. Antlers is based on a short story about a well-intentioned young teacher playing savior in rotting Appalachia. While Cooper’s film maintains that mood, it’s mired in additional paint-by-numbers screenwriting. Combine that with Cooper’s inexperience directing horror, and it’s a superficially polished, wellacted movie that gravely stammers through a repetitive 95 minutes. To be fair, Antlers does possess one unexpected screenwriting flourish that pivots the movie away from hillbilly exploitation. But that sensitivity and the care that went into consulting on Wendigo lore with Native artists and experts amounts to very little. Honestly, check out last year’s Blood Quantum if you seek a recent, well-done First Nations horror movie. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Cedar Hills, Cinema 99, Clackamas Town Center, Dine-In Progress Ridge, Division, Eastport Plaza, Evergreen Parkway, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Oak Grove, Sherwood, Tigard, Vancouver Plaza.

Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Like all the great ones, the latest from Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude opens with uncensored pornography.

Next, it’s 30 mind-numbing minutes of a teacher (Katia Pascariu) wandering Bucharest, while the camera insinuates that billboards and toy ads are perhaps pornographic as well. Then comes an enjoyable glossary interlude, balancing terms of human history with the Romanian Urban Dictionary. Finally, it’s the trial of the century, as we discover the aforementioned teacher, Emi, actually appeared in the opening adult videos, while her school’s parents make an inquisition out of it. All in all, a real mix of antic social commentary and blowjobs. Hot pink title cards and ragtime music nowhere near mask a seething hatred for the country’s autocratic past and what’s portrayed through the third act’s kangaroo court as a misogynistic, anti-Semitic present. There’s distinct bravery in taking a bite this big and mean out of one’s own country, but it’s also far too much to chew: city planning, Fox News, rape culture, genocide, pandemic conspiracies.

The film might be polemical if it focused. None of this really explains Bad Luck Banging’s Golden Bear win at the Berlin International Film Festival. Maybe an award for Best Whiplash would be more appropriate. NR. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Cinema 21.

Belfast Near the end of director Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, Caitríona Balfe and Jamie Dornan dance to “Everlasting Love,” Love Affair’s lustrous anthem of desire, regret and hope. It’s an intoxicating scene, but it’s also an outlier. Burdened by a suffocating cloak of nostalgia, Belfast is unable to reconcile the demands of a tale defined by trauma and a director who can’t stop gazing wistfully into the past. The setting is Ireland and the year is 1969, during the 30-year clash between Catholics and Protestants known as the Troubles.

Sectarian violence rages, but religious battles hold no interest for Buddy (Jude Hill), a young Protestant who’s happiest watching movies like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with his

parents (Balfe and Dornan). Based in part on Branagh’s childhood, Belfast is a safe, smooth film where kids are adorably spunky and life has a never-ending Van Morrison soundtrack.

Branagh seems to be trying to get away from the glorious excesses of his Shakespeare films, but restraint doesn’t suit him—nothing in Belfast is so vibrant and truthful as the sight of him jubilantly frolicking in a fountain in 1993’s Much Ado About Nothing. If the play is still the thing for Branagh, it’s because he speaks more eloquently through the stories of others than he does through his own. PG-13.

BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bridgeport, Cascade, Cedar Hills, Cinema 21, Clackamas Town Center, Dine-In Progress Ridge, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Vancouver Mall.

Encanto A dazzling swirl of color bursting with irrepressible joy in every frame, Disney’s 60th animated feature, Encanto, is a wonder to behold, but the story of a South American clan blessed with extraordinary powers becomes a struggle to endure. Even though glowingly introduced by fiercely envious Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), sole member of the Madrigals born without special abilities, the gifts bestowed on her family seem ones best returned.

Ever-blossoming eldest sister Isabela (Diane Guerrero) rides her ability to conjure up flowers toward de facto princesshood, while curative culinary prowess keeps Mirabel’s mom (Angie Cepeda) in the kitchen and super-strong middle sis Luisa (Jessica Darrow) relegated to nonstop labor. More creepily, shape-shifting has turned cousin Camilo schizophrenic, perfect hearing renders his sister Dolores an incurable gossip, Aunt Pepa always walks under a miniature rain cloud, and the prophecies laid out in emerald flat screen for Mirabel’s uncle effectively forced his banishment years ago. Details of the disappearance of Bruno (John Leguizamo), the black sheep in the family, begin to emerge via LinManuel Miranda’s original score. We learn that his special ability is predicting the future—unwanted fates foretold that are becoming all too true. When powers begin to fade and cracks in the floorboards echo

familial fissures, Mirabel embarks on a quest to piece together her uncle’s most recent visions. In other words, despite the supposed wonders of the mighty Madrigals, our heroine prefers to ditch her family and zone out watching new stories appear on a jerry-rigged iPad. Judging from the murmured dismay of a progressively less-enchanted young audience, she’s far from alone. PG. JAY HORTON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas Town Center, Dine-In Progress Ridge, Eastport Plaza, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Tigard, Wunderland Beaverton, Wunderland Milwaukie.

13 Minutes Fans of Love Actually or the cursed Taylor Lautner-Taylor Swift vehicle Valentine’s Day may find elements of 13 Minutes familiar.

The film follows in the grand tradition of clunky ensemble flicks that are totally devoid of substance.

The only difference here is that most of those movies are lighthearted and actually fun to watch.

13 Minutes isn’t fun, nor is it meant to be. It follows the residents of a small Oklahoma town as they navigate their daily lives just before a tornado is about to hit. While the premise is interesting, writers Travis Farncombe and Lindsay Gossling are entirely to blame for the film’s many failures. The script is grisly and exploitative—a half-baked tragedy porn about stock characters who feel like they were written by a bot. In fact, the whole script has an AI-generated quality. The writers seemed to pick from a grab bag of Important Social Topics, among them: abortion and crisis pregnancy centers, homophobia, racism, barriers to medical access, and immigration. Each plotline is introduced and then abruptly abandoned or, worse, wrapped up with a jerky, treacly sincerity that totally flattens the very real problems the characters face. You’d be better off streaming º. PG-13. GRACE CULHANE. On Demand.

JONESIN’

by Matt Jones

"All Rise"--it happens because it's scientific.

Week of December 2

©2021 Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

It's a favorable time to get excited about your longrange future—and to entertain possibilities that have previously been on the edges of your awareness. I'd love to see you open your heart to the sweet dark feelings you've been sensing, and open your mind to the disruptive but nourishing ideas you need, and open your gut to the rumbling hunches that are available.

Be brave, Aries! Strike up conversations with the unexpected, the unknown, and the undiscovered.

"The problem with putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get 22." Author Dashiell Hammett said that, and now I'm passing it on to you—just in time for a phase of your cycle when putting two and two together will probably not bring four, but rather 22 or some other irregularity.

I'm hoping that since I've given you a heads-up, it won't be a problem. On the contrary. You will be prepared and will adjust faster than anyone else—thereby generating a dose of exotic good fortune.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) A Tumblr blogger named Evan (lotad.tumblr.com) addressed a potential love interest. "Do you like sleeping, because so do I," he wrote. "We should do it together sometime." You might want to extend a similar invitation, Taurus. Now is a ripe time for you to interweave your subconscious mind with the subconscious mind of an ally you trust. The two of you could generate extraordinary healing energy for each other as you lie together, dozing in the darkness.

Other recommended activities: meditating together; fantasizing together; singing together; making spiritual love together. (PS: If you have no such human ally, sleep and meditate with a beloved animal or imaginary friend.)

GEMINI (May 21-June20)

ACROSS

47 Upscale hotel offering

25 "Ode on a Grecian _ _ _"

1 Polish-born author Sholem

52 Met dos

26 "Butter" group

5 Abrupt sound at the beginning?

54 Track placement

29 Response on the stand

10 Serpentine warning

55 React like a superfan

30 Tournament placement

56 Apple on a desktop

31 Seashore fliers

57 Influential industry person

32 "Better Call _ _ _" (AMC drama series)

14 Cut back 15 Make a court statement 16 "Inner" prefix

59 "What have _ _ _ to show for it?"

17 Pentagon figure?

60 Initiation procedure

34 Stick around, then go

18 High school divisions

61 California mission founder Junipero

38 Tight position?

62 "_ _ _ Kleine Nachtmusik"

41 China's Sun Yat-_ _ _

19 Conflict of characters, in Greek drama

33 Part of a sax ensemble

39 Feeling of dissatisfaction

20 Run-down

63 Stag or doe

22 24-hr. bank amenity

64 "No Logo" author Naomi

42 "_ _ _ the Right One In" (2008 movie)

23 Some Crockpot meals

65 Person with a vision

44 Ottawa VIPs

24 "Sesame Street" character who mainly tweets numbers on Twitter

DOWN

48 Pong platform

1 Secluded

49 _ _ _ Boogie ("The Nightmare Before Christmas" villain)

26 "Muy _ _ _!"

27 Prefix meaning "ear" or "gold"

2 Comedian Silverman 3 Largest of the Greek Islands

50 Frontiersman who crossed the Appalachians

32 Sea near Palm Springs

4 Exposes academic dishonesty, after the temperature conversion?

35 Time changers (abbr.)

5 Observe covertly

53 Friend, in France

36 Level of a stadium

6 Just-washed

54 Jessica of "7th Heaven"

37 Smart _ _ _

7 Home of Shakespeare, after the temperature conversion?

57 Rebuking noise that sounds even more pretentious with an "I" sound

28 Stop temporarily

38 "Alter _ _ _" (Fox singing competition show) 39 When you may have to be out of an AirBnB 40 Neighbor of Nevada

8 Pleasant outside 9 YouTube interruptors 10 Old cereal slogan, after the temperature conversion?

41 Bowen Yang's show, for short

11 Know-how

42 British insurance syndicate 43 Early Beatles hit

13 People with Roman numerals after their names, usually

45 "La mer" contents

21 Concerned query

46 "30 for 30" cable channel

23 Snifter sample

12 Store securely

51 Head into 52 Brace (oneself)

58 "I'll Be Your Mirror" photographer Goldin

last week’s answers

Gemini author Chuck Klosterman writes, "It's far easier to write why something is terrible than why it's good." That seems to be true for many writers.

However, my life's work is in part a rebellion against doing what's easy. I don't want to chronically focus on what's bad and sick and desolate. Instead, I aspire to devote more of my energy to doing what Klosterman implies is hard, which is to write sincerely (but not naively) about the many things that are good and redemptive and uplifting. In light of your current astrological omens, Gemini, I urge you to adopt my perspective for your own use in the next three weeks.

Keep in mind what philosopher Robert Anton Wilson said: "An optimistic mindset finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable."

CANCER (June 21-July 22) An organization in Turkey decided to construct a new building to house its workers. The Saruhanbey Knowledge, Culture, and Education Foundation chose a plot in the city of Manisa. But there was a problem.

A three-centuries-old pine tree stood on the land.

Local authorities would not permit it to be cut down.

So architects designed a building with spaces and holes that fully accommodated the tree. I recommend you regard this marvel as a source of personal inspiration in the coming weeks and months. How could you work gracefully with nature as you craft your future masterpiece or labor of love? How might you work around limitations to create useful, unusual beauty?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Author Melissa Broder wrote a preposterous essay in which she ruminated, "Is fake love better than real love? Real love is responsibility, compromise, selflessness, being present, and all that shit. Fake love is magic, excitement, false hope, infatuation, and getting high off the potential that another person is going to save you from yourself." I will propose, Leo, that you bypass such ridiculous thinking about love in the coming weeks and months. Here's why: There's a strong chance that the real love at play in your life will feature magic and excitement, even as it requires responsibility, compromise, selflessness, and being present.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Virgo author Andre Dubus III describes times when "I feel stupid, insensitive, mediocre, talentless and vulnerable—like I'm about to cry any second—and wrong." That sounds dreadful, right? But it's not dreadful for him. Just the opposite. "I've found that when that happens," he concludes, "it usually means I’m writing pretty well, pretty deeply, pretty rawly." I trust you will entertain a comparable state sometime soon, Virgo. Even if you're not a writer, the bounty and fertility that emerge from this immersion in vulnerability will invigorate you beyond what you can imagine.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) In her poem "Is/Not," Scorpio poet Margaret Atwood tells a lover, "You are not my doctor, you are not my cure, nobody has that power, you are merely a fellow traveler." I applaud her for stating an axiom I'm fond of, which is that no one, not even the person who loves you best, can ever be totally responsible for fixing everything wrong in your life. However, I do think Atwood goes too far. On some occasions, certain people can indeed provide us with a measure of healing. And we must be receptive to that possibility. We shouldn't be so pathologically self-sufficient that we close ourselves off from tender help. One more thing: Just because that help may be imperfect doesn't mean it's useless and should be rejected.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) "All my days I have longed equally to travel the right road and to take my own errant path," wrote Norwegian-Danish novelist Sigrid Undset. I think she succeeded in doing both. She won a Nobel Prize for Literature. Her trilogy about a 14th-century Norwegian woman was translated into 80 languages. I conclude that for her—as well as for you in the coming weeks and months—traveling the right road and taking your own errant path will be the same thing.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Capricorn author Susan Sontag unleashed a bizarre boast, writing, "One of the healthiest things about me— my capacity to survive, to bounce back, to prosper—is intimately connected with my biggest neurotic liability: my facility in disconnecting from my feelings."

Everything about her statement makes me scream NO! I mean, I believe this coping mechanism worked for her; I don't begrudge her that. But as a student of psychology and spirituality, I know that disconnecting from feelings is, for most of us, the worst possible strategy if we want to be healthy and sane. And I will advise you to do the opposite of Sontag in the coming weeks. December is Stay Intimately Connected with Your Feelings Month.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In some small towns in the Philippines, people can be punished and fined for gossiping. Some locals have become reluctant to exchange tales about the sneaky, sexy, highly entertaining things their neighbors are doing. They complain that their freedom of speech has been curtailed. If you lived in one of those towns, I'd advise you to break the law in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, dynamic gossip should be one of your assets. Staying well-informed about the human comedy will be key for your ability to thrive.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) "Originality consists in thinking for yourself, and not in thinking unlike other people," wrote Piscean author James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–1894). Another way to say it: Being rebellious is not inherently creative. If you primarily define yourself by rejecting and reacting against someone's ideas, you are being controlled by those ideas. Please keep this in mind, dear Pisces. I want you to take full advantage of your astrological potential during the next 12 months, which is to be absolutely original. Your perceptions and insights will be unusually lucid if you protect yourself from both groupthink and a compulsive repudiation of groupthink.

HOMEWORK: I invite you to send me your holiday wish list. What do you want? What do you need? https://Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes & Daily Text Message Horoscopes

©2021 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #JNZ990.

freewillastrology.com The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at

1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700 Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

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Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

Jack Kent’s

Jack Kent’s

Jack Kent’s

Jack Kent’s

Jack draws exactly what he sees from the streets of Portland.

Jack draws exactly what he sees from the streets of Portland.

IG @sketchypeoplepdx kentcomics.com

IG @sketchypeoplepdx kentcomics.com Jack draws exactly what he sees from the streets of Portland.

IG @sketchypeoplepdx kentcomics.com

Jack draws exactly what he sees from the streets of Portland.

IG @sketchypeoplepdx

Art show @PDXchange_Gallery 3916 N Mississippi Ave.

Art show @PDXchange_Gallery 3916 N Mississippi Ave. Willamette Week NOVEMBER 24, 2021 wweek.com

Art show @PDXchange_Gallery

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