Reviews of six new graphic novels, from Julia Wertz's Brooklyn adventures to the Cuban revolution. by Alison Hallett Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz (Three Rivers) "My life is the abortion Juno should have had," declares Julia Wertz in her new graph

Slayer is, has always been, and thus shall always be by Aris Wales FROM SEPTEMBER OF 1990 through July of 1991, the now legendary Clash of the Titans tour thrashed across the US, Canada, and Europe. The US leg featured Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and a very

Our Shoes Are Red/The Performance Lab's West Coast premiere of Will Eno's Oh the Humanity. by Alison Hallett THE COACH OF A SPORTS TEAM (Tim Stapleton) sits behind a table at a press conference, tired but trying, explaining his team's failures in the

The singular genius of Alexis Gideon. by Ned Lannamann THERE ISN'T ANYONE doing anything remotely like Alexis Gideon. The songwriter/guitarist has just completed his second multimedia-animated-hiphop-film-opera, Video Musics II: Sun Wu-Kong, and it's an abs

Machete is angry. And awesome. by Erik Henriksen "JESUS CHRIST, Machete! You're a fucking shit magnet!" immigration officer Sartana (Jessica Alba) shouts. It's true. Wherever Machete (Danny Trejo) goes, people seem to lose their arms, intestines, and/or hea

Midori Hirose's new sculptures marry chaos and order. by Matt Stangel "DO YOU PUT CHICKENS IN IT?" a boy aged no more than four asks, looking up at Midori Hirose with a Cindy Lou Who innocence. "You could," replies Hirose, referring to one of her sculptures

Temporary withdrawals from Halo Shoes and Andy Lifschutz. by Marjorie Skinner I'M GOING through withdrawal. Halo Shoes has closed its NE Broadway location after some impressive pre-move price cuts. They're moving into new digs on the other side of the river

All hail Danny Trejo! by Bobby "Fatboy" Roberts AT A TIME when society's masculine ideal looks like a cross between Justin Bieber and a wet dog, I can't imagine future-dwellers will ever believe such a creature as Danny Trejo ever existed. He'll be spo

Epic New York City Skateboard Photography by Scrappers DOGTOWN, the Z-Boys, and Powell-Peralta's Bones Brigade can suck it—the New York City skate scene has just as much history as the Southern California scene, but without the glamour of sponsorship

Violetta has good burgers, but works best bringing extra flavor to a new park. by Patrick Coleman WE USE RESTAURANTS to feed us, sure. We also use them to celebrate important milestones and significant social occasions, or to help us forget ourselves for a

The officer who shot and killed Aaron Campbell has been placed on leave. Will Police Chief Mike Reese fire him? by Denis C. Theriault THE POLICE OFFICER who shot and killed Aaron Campbell with an assault rifle during a standoff in late January has been plac

Dear "Oldie": Why so OLD? by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey [Hey Guys! I'm on vacation this week, so enjoy this old-timey episode of I Love Television™ designed to make you—and myself—feel old. Mission accomplished!—Humpy] Ever get t

Everything you need to know about Basquiat. by Marjorie Skinner COMEDY DIRECTOR TAMRA DAVIS (Billy Madison, Half Baked, that one coming-of-age movie starring Britney Spears) was a friend of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat when she filmed an interview with him t

Contract talks between the police union and Portland officials are close to resuming—and we might be invited in. by Denis C. Theriault I'LL BELIEVE IT when I see it—when I'm in the same room, watching the two sides at the same table. I'm talking ab

THURSDAY 9/2 EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, LULACRUZA (Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See My, What a Busy Week!, pg. 15. GULFSONGS GULF COAST BENEFIT: CHRIS ROBLEY AND THE FEAR OF HEIGHTS, BUOY LARUE, RACHEL TAYLOR BROWN, LEONARD MYNX (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Between economic woes, faulty levee

It's gossip time! Put on your Silly Bandz and meet us at the malt shoppe! by Ann Romano MONDAY, AUGUST 23 Welcome back to One Day at a Time, dears—where every week, yours truly scoops out the Tinseltown turds from the gossip litterbox so you don't hav

Christian-backed crisis pregnancy centers outnumber pro-choice clinics in Oregon. Is that so bad? by Sarah Mirk "I'm pregnant." I'm lying. I'm in a sun-filled room just off NE Broadway, taking up a chair in a cozy house with motherly furnishings. It's a c

The state is going broke fast! But a vexing law could force Oregon to give back tens of millions in tax dollars to big corporations. by Denis C. Theriault HERE'S A SNAPSHOT of our broke-ass state: Ailing senior citizens worry they'll be ripped from family

Oh my god, oh your god, oh his god, oh her god, it's everybody's Busy Week! THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 RE-HUNG!—Portland's favorite euphemistic billboard, the Hung Far Low sign, disappeared from downtown two years ago when the owners discovered it was about to fall down. Now af

This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. The summer heat has taken a toll on my debt snowball. Two months ago, I paid off the last of my credit card debt, but I still have thousands of dollars in loans. I started the su

To meet its biking goals, Portland will have to figure out what keeps women—and people of color—from riding. by Sarah Mirk PORTLAND OFFICIALS HOPE one in four residents will regularly get on a bicycle by 2030. But a new report by a leading bicyc

The Elusive Poopnoodle by Dan Savage Here's my problem: I love women. I love the way they look, I love the way they move, I love the way they sound. I like to see them naked. But the idea of actually interacting with women—trying to engage them in int

The American: Jason Bourne for the arthouse crowd! by Erik Henriksen BEGINNING WITH A BANG—or, more accurately, several bangs, of both the firearm and sexual varieties—The American starts off as the film it's being advertised as: an actio

Two days ago on my morning trip down to the coffee shop to get a little wisdom at the ORG (Old Retired Guys) Table, a driver blasted right through a stop sign and almost made it my last day on a bicycle. So what did I do? Two things. First, since I ended up about five feet from the driver's window, I did not yell or mak

Remember all those years during the Bush Administration? There were attacks by Al-Qaeda on f

Turn off your mind relax and float down-stream,It is not dying, it is not dying,Lay down all thought surrender to the void,It is shining, it is shining.That you may see the meaning of within,

Yes, it is true I am so nervous and almost beside myself with Alena entering 1st Grade.  This is the first time that she will be going to a big, public school.  So far, we had gone to a nice, safe, private PreK - K school and it was wonderful. I had communicated and educated the teacher's before the school year ab

---I totally forgot to mention it yesterday, but Jennifer cooked up another quiz last weekend, of a kind that I always wanted to make but could never pull off. I thi

From the album Raw Like Sushi. I still own this CD…and I miss wearing my pair of white and pink L.A. Gear high-tops with pegged acid-wash jeans. Buffalo Stance – Neneh Cherry

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is being planned as a television series reports Heat Vision. Warner Bros. is allegedly seeking a creative entity to become the program’s showrunner, but the article notes that “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke may be at the top of the studio’s list. Sandman, which launche

As soon as you have about a month's worth of posts published on your art blog, it's time to start promoting it. And one of the easiest, and cheapest, forms of blog marketing is to jump on the social networking bandwagon

Do you know who Squidman is? How about Kranx? If you do, I'm going to guess you, too, have a son or daughter who is into Lego Space Police. Our 6-year-old is ALL about the Legos. Lego Space Police, Lego...

By Laura Grimes Dear Mr. Scatter, I see you have delayed your return to the Scatter front for another day. Be assured that this does not reflect poorly on your dedication as a loving father and husband, though I did have to clean out the little black skillet again, contrary to what it says on our marriage [...]

2489.Because there can never be too much hintage and tippage for Adobe Illustrator, here's an article which deeply impressed me by Mordy Golding at CreativePro.com that everyone should bookmark:

By Ben Golliver Timbers Close Home Schedule – And PGE Park – Tonight Against Puerto Rico On Sunday, PDX Pipeline noted that it was taking care of business time for the Timbers.  And there’s no doubt that business was seriously taken care of during Portland’s 3-0 romp over Crystal Palace Baltimore. The win, which

In past blog posts, I’ve written that during the recessions in the 1980s, when values decreased, houses wouldn’t appraise for what buyers had paid for them and financing had all but gone south, we saw more cash sales than any other kind of transaction. The other day I read a blog by a real estate [...]

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:July (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate:12.3% - California8.8% - Idaho10.6% - Oregon8.9% - WashingtonAdded to this are state income woes. Rai

Last week I was invited to a special VIP tour and media event over at Deschutes Brewery, and I wrote about it for my weekend Hop Press article. It was pretty cool, and there are a number of interesting tidbits I learned. Green Lakes Organic Ale: The Brewery loves this beer, even though it’s more [...]

Sorry there hasn't been time for coffee lately. Or blogging or generally gadding about. I've been ... reading. Yes, that's right. One of my favorite things about working with Wordstock -- the literary and book fest that starts in just 36 days -- is that I get to

A few photos of a

And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.~ King James version ~

Some devout Mormons discuss why God won't heal schizophrenics. (Or amputees. Or quadriplegics. Or people with MS. Or with Alzheimer's disease. Etc.) None of them go near the Big Scary Answer, though. An answer to self-serving "no one could have known" excuses about Iraq: One thing we can be fairly sure about is that thou

Here is the final matchup of the second round of the Blazersedge Scrubdown, determining Portland's favorite not-so-star-level Blazer player. In a somewhat surprising result from yesterday's first-round run-off, Kermit Washington defeated Drazen Petrovic, meaning Kermit won his way into today's matchup. To h

Just in case you haven't been paying attention, Cyndi Lauper recently released a blues album and is on a rare tour. We saw her on Wednesday night at the Oregon Zoo. The last time she was in Portland, she was pregnant with her son...who

Beautiful Starry, from N. Albany.Starry again.Peko, with ringworm in tow.Nemo, who likes my trendy trap bed.Nemo took over the trap bed from Buffy. Before that, Gretal had dibs on the trap bed.Machi, taken shortly after he was returned. He now has one spot of ringworm on his upper lip.The athletic sisters Echo and Fantasi

Chris Dudley would have you believe that he's pro-choice. He even deliberately picked a fight with Right to Life to make the point. But the fact is, as Carla Axtman noted a few weeks ago,