- OH, IRONY OF IRONIES: DECRYING SMUGNESS OFTEN BELIES IT…I AM AWARE OF THIS, SADLY…BUT THERE’S NO ESCAPE!
You may recall (or not) that a while back I wrote a column critiquing Portland’s panel discussions for their smugness. It’s also a trend that we’re all prone to, here in town. Nevertheless my smugdar is on full alert this afternoon for the panel discussion at Urban Grind, kicking off at 7pm. Courtesy of Brian Libby at Portland Architecture:
Over the past year the New Oregon Interview Series, an initiative of the nonprofit organization New Oregon Arts & Letters, has held a broad array of discussions ranging from music and film to visual arts, food, fashion and literature. Later, the interviews are set to be published in a printed anthology.
“Portland has bloomed into a top destination for creative culture,” the OIS website opines. “Media from the New York Times to MTV tout our city’s creativity, sustainability, and livability. Where are we heading now?”
For the latest in the New Oregon Interview series, host Nora Roberts will be talking with Mayor Sam Adams, Portland Monthly editor Randy Gragg and architect Brad Cloepfil to discuss “their work in shaping urban space, new city re-development like the Coliseum, and the meaning of world-class architecture, among other topics.”
All I’m saying is that I hope the “other topics” include a heavy dose of the mayor’s recent rhetoric on there being two Portlands, and so on, and so forth, and at least one named reference to the Campbell shooting, right up front. Libby continues:
There will certainly be a lot to talk about, from the Columbia Crossing to the urban growth boundary, green building and MAX trains to economic recession and ballot measures. The mayor of any city, let alone with as weak a mayoral system, can only do so much. But Adams is ambitious, and has the opportunity to show that he is smart about design.
AND MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING. AND POLICE OVERSIGHT. AND DISPARITY OF OPPORTUNITY. With all eyes on the mayor this week, it’s a political minefield this evening. Please join me with your smugdar set to stun (I’ll be tweeting the event with the hashtag #smugwatchPDX) at Urban Grind East (2214 NE Oregon Street). Admission is $5.
I don’t have $5 to go to this event. All of my money went to pay for unfunded police pension payments.(Thank you folks, I’ll be playing here all week!)
Please- someone ask the mayor why, when he had his car crash, he was taking I-5 back from going to the movies in Vancouver (Wolverine: Origins? really?) instead of patronizing any one of the fine moviehouses in our fair city. I mean, I recognize that a large number of our city employees can’t be bothered to invest in, buy homes in, shop, or school their children in the city of Portland, but godammit, when the mayor wants to see a action packed thrill ride of a movie about mutants on a lazy weekend afternoon, he shouldn’t leave the state to do it.
Oh, there will be much courtesy laughter.
What “disagreement” there is will be of the to-may-to/to-mah-to variety.
The event tonight is not a press conference. It’s a discussion about architecture and city planning. Gragg is the former planning and urban design critic for the Oregonian; Adams helms a city with one of the best urban planning departments in the world; Cloepfil is arguably the city’s currently most successful architectural export, with commissions all over the country.
Can he build a movie theater that the Mayor will lower himself to attend?
#6: He lives in Kenton. That was probably the closest movie theater to his house that was showing that movie. The St John’s Twin shows first run, (and has beer,) but only has 2 screens, but after that, in city limits is Lloyd Center. And other than the Twin, most of the first run theaters in town don’t pay living wages and the profit goes out of the area anyways, so I can’t exactly see the rush to build more of them…
Of course, he had to drive, where as Lloyd (and Pioneer Square) are both on MAX lines, (and his house is about 1000 feet from a MAX station,) so I’m not going to defend him too much.
Maybe he should have the CRC designers contemplate a movie theater to be built on on the bridge next to the bike lane, car lane, bus dedicated lane, light rail lane and streetcar lane. They can put it next to the ultimate frisbee field on the top of the bridge.
Or he could wait for it to hit the Laurelhurst like the rest of us. If you don’t get a beer with your movie you might as well live in Vancouver.