Kicking it on the Willamette.
Alison Hallett
Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.
Posted inBooks
Comic Book Club
Quick Reviews of Comics We Like
Over Easyby Mimi Pond(Drawn & Quarterly) WHEN I QUIT my last restaurant job, I made my then-boyfriend promise that he wouldn’t let me romanticize it years down the road. Now—years down the road—my memories of the service industry are indeed starting to take on a nostalgic hue: Yes, the work was hard, but I had […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
GRINDHOUSE—Technically, the star of the 1974 blaxploitation classic Truck Turner is Isaac Hayes. But the real reason you watch it is to have your wig blown back by Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from Star Trek) as the meanest madam you’ve ever seen, colder than a polar bear’s toenails and meaner than a rabid dog. BRHollywood Theatre, […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
COMEDY—Funny Over Everything is the best comedy showcase in town, thanks to booking that regularly brings in respected comics who’re right on the cusp of getting huge. Case in point: Jerrod Carmichael headlines tonight’s show. He just recorded an HBO special—directed by Spike Lee, for chrissakes. Catch him now before he blows up. AHHollywood Theatre, […]
Posted inArtsy
Win VIP Tickets to Back Fence, PDX
Our pals at storytelling series Back Fence PDX are gearing up for a big weekend: This Friday, their popular mainstage show moves to the Hollywood Theater, after a long and productive run at the Mission. (The Mission, like the Bagdad, is moving away from hosting live events.) Back Fence invites interesting musicians, writers, and performers […]
Posted inEvents
What Are You Doing this Weekend?
Alison Hallett: “Hitting the Risk/Reward festival tonight. That’s about it, leaving the house-wise. Reading Kate Zambreno’s Green Girl, which I can’t decide if I like or not but can’t seem to put down. Also tackling a stack of comics, including former Portlander Sam Alden’s It Never Happened Again, which is by all accounts really great. […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
DANCE—You like your dance nights sweaty, bangin’, and most of all DIRTY. So you owe it to yourself to check out Pulla Muscle—a butt-swangin’ dance party featuring hot ‘n’ nasty rap tracks that cover New Orleans bounce and Miami bass, as well as twerks from LA’s DJ Mustard. And it’s all being spun by the […]
Posted inBooks
This Week’s Impressive Debut from a Portland Author: Polly Dugan’s So Much a Part of You
I wrote a bit of a love letter to Polly Dugan’s new collection So Much a Part of You in the paper this week; it’s a really good book, and it’s always gratifying to discover talented new Portland writers. (Last week’s was Smith Henderson, if you missed it.) Dugan’s ship didn’t come in overnight; as […]
Posted inArtsy
Risk/Reward Preview: Watch These Segways Try to Do Each Other
The arts! Seattle-based artist/dancer/Segwist Erin Pike is one of the performers at this weekend’s Risk/Reward festival, an annual showcase of new performance work from West Coast artists. Also on the roster: Ilvs Strauss, a mixed-media artist from Seattle who’s known for witty slideshow presentations; the Neutral Fembot Project, a Portland ensemble with a performance-art piece […]
Posted inBooks
PDX Bona Fides
Polly Dugan’s Debut Is a Quiet Triumph
Polly Dugan’s So Much a Part of You
Posted inTheater & Performance
Bleeding Edge
Risk/Reward’s Micro-Performance Fest
It’s Risk/Reward, Portland’s West Coast micro-performance fest.