Dear Blogtown friends and colleagues,

It is with heavy heart to announce that our dear friend, longtime employee, and music editor Ezra Ace Caraeff is leaving the Mercury nest. As you may have heard, he's starting up a bar in North Portland called Old Gold, and while he would've loved to have kept working here… c'mon! Everybody knows THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE. (Though we're sure you'll still be seeing some of his stellar writing popping up in the paper and on the blog from time to time.) All that being said, while we'll desperately miss Ezra's commitment to the Mercury (11 Years!! Omigod, my goiter is younger than that!), as well as his immense talent and sense of humor, we wish him nothing but the best in this new chapter of his life. (We also wish for free drinks... which will be a good barometer for how much he really loves us).

BON VOYAGE, EZRA! We love ya, ya big hairy galoot! (Oh, and bye to Olive too, I guess. My garbage can will miss you.)

P.S. And while we're on the topic, let's also utter a hearty congratulations to our own Ned Lannamann who will be taking over as the mighty Mercury music editor immediately following Ezra's departure. Ned is a fucking fireball of talent, and will continue to make our music section and music blog the envy of every sentient being in the universe. Congrats, Ned!

AND NOW? I WEEP.