Portland Mercury

A Celebration of Mediocrity

The soulless shuffle of Jack Johnson is boring.

• by Ned Lannamann
• Tags: Jack Johnson, the crappy singer, not the boxer, Ned will be banned from the Gap for writing this

Sixty Six

All Bernie Rubens wants is a kickass bar mitzvah. Too bad he's stuck in Sixty Six, a too-darling indie flick.

• by Sahar Baharloo
• Tags: Sixty Six, Paul Weiland, disastrous bar mitzvahs

Our Town Could Be Your Life

Disc Makers purchases local company CD Baby.

• by Cary Clarke
• Tags: Our Town Could Be Your Life, Portland local music, CD Baby, Disc Makers

UP & COMING

This week's live music previews.

Hall Monitor

Mayor-Elect Sam Adams names his right-hand man.

• by Amy J. Ruiz
• Tags: city hall, politics, Sam Adams, Tom Miller

Notes on Collaboration

Sam Amidon's collaborative folk music hits hard.

• by Tobias Carroll
• Tags: Sam Amidon, <i>All Is Well</i>, Nico Muhly

Sensation of Sight

In The Sensation of Sight, David Strathairn sells some encyclopedias. (What's an encyclopedia, you ask? Look it up on Wikipedia!)

• by Drew Gemmer
• Tags: <i>The Sensation of Sight</i>, Aaron J. Wiederspahn, David Strathairn, stuff that reminds you of Sufjan Stevens

Worse than Jar Jar

Is Star Wars: The Clone Wars a new start for the series, or just another attack of a clone?

• by Erik Henriksen
• Tags: Star Wars, George Lucas, terrible ideas, wherein I guess it's apparent that Erik Henriksen's something of a masochist, at least as far as lightsabers are concerned

New Column!

War Time Tribunal

APEX: Marc Dombrosky

Tacoma artist Marc Dombrosky brings his found and modified art to Portland.

• by John Motley
• Tags: Marc Dombrosky, cultural detritus, rectangular vitrines and the like

Savage Love

Homosexual Exclamations

• by Dan Savage

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Readers dispute the crowned King of KJs, defend KBOO, and then lick the wounds that Scientology inflicted.

• Tags: Shakespeare, KBOO, Sarah Mirk, Scientology, KJs

Pharmakon

Dirk Wittenborn's non-memoir falls pretty to upper-middle-class angst.

• by MELISSA LION
• Tags: Pharmakon, Dirk Wittenborn, self-indulgent white men

SOLD OUT

Jeff Mandel brings the shoemaking techniques of the European masters to Portland with ExIT Shoes.

• by Marjorie Skinner
• Tags: ExIT Shoes, Jeff Mandel

Scarlett and Penélope Make Out!!!

In Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen goes to Spain for the noble reason of watching Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz make out.

• by Ned Lannamann
• Tags: Woody Allen, Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett + Penelope 4EVR

New Column!

The Mercury's War Crime Tribunal

The Wrecking Crew

Thomas Frank documents the conservative threat to America.

Web-Exclusive Interview with the Author

• by Amy J. Ruiz
• Tags: Thomas Frank, The Wrecking Crew, conservative plot to destroy America

One Day at a Time

The latest gossip and hateful innuendo—all in one convenient place!

• by Ann Romano
• Tags: Patrick Swayze, Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears, Shia LaBeouf, Linday Lohan, Samantha Ronson, Paris Hilton, John McCain, Barack Obama, John Edwards, cloning, Clay Aiken, Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes

The Commission for Soapbox Safety Presents: Crimson Asphalt

The Portland Adult Soapbox Derby at Mt. Tabor may look like "fun"— but there is nothing more fun than safety.

• by Patrick Alan Coleman
• Tags: Portland Adult Soapbox Derby, drinking, Zach Hull, safety, Mt. Tabor

Trash Days

Supertrash Film Fest delivers an eclectic mish-mash of lowbrow fun.

• by Courtney Ferguson
• Tags: Supertrash Film Fest, Bruce Bickford, Floating World Comics, Jesus why does <i>Labyrinth</i> screen somewhere in Portland like every two weeks?