It’s Oregon’s birthday, everyone! 155 years ago our particular piece of geography went from being a territory to a full-fledged member of these United States. In celebration of our state’s birthday, here are some facts about Oregon that you might not know. -Oregon has a double-sided flag, just like Paraguay! -Oregon is America’s ninth largest […]
Joe Streckert
Joe Streckert is the author of Storied & Scandalous Portland, Oregon: A History of Gambling, Vice, Wits, and Wagers. He writes about books, history, and comics.
Posted inSports
Roller Derby Recap: Heartless Heathers vs. High Rollers, Break Neck Betties vs. Guns N Rollers
The Rose City Rollers began their 10th season at Memorial Coliseum last Saturday. This year’s season will be a bit longer than previous years with each of Rose City’s four home teams playing each other twice over throughout the year. The first of the two bouts was something of a blowout, and the second one […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Welcome to Night Vale‘s Live Show Is Way Better than Hearing about Stamps.com
I love podcasts, but I don’t think I’d pay for one. Podcasting, though, is not a zero-cost endeavor. It takes time, of course, as well as equipment, talent, and web hosting. Get enough subscribers, and downloads can slow to a crawl without the support of costly bandwidth. Despite being distributed for free, podcasts, after a […]
Posted inTheater & Performance
Not Your Average Podcast
Pulling Back the Curtain on Welcome to Night Vale
Behind the scenes on one of the most popular podcasts on the internet.
Posted inUnited Federation of Planets
Showtunes and Star Trek: The Brent Spiner Musical Experience
In 2004’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman made the case for Billy Joel. “Unlike 99 percent of pop artists,” wrote Klosterman, “there is absolutely no relationship between Joel’s greatness and Joel’s coolness.” Klosterman went on to compare Billy Joel to an interesting senior citizen or historical event, and stressed that certain forms of […]
Posted inGeneral
Oregon’s First African Americans
How the Institutional Racism of Yesterday Still Reverberates Today
The history of Oregon’s first African Americans—and how it still reverberates today.
Posted inComic Books
Comics Events Tonight: Video Games, Sadness, and Alien Landscapes
It’s First Thursday, and while on any given monthly art walk you can probably find something comics-related, this evening is offering up a particularly succulent triple-header of nerdy art things. Over at Ground Kontrol Carolyn Main, the artist behind Sex Wizards, is throwing a shindig for the release of her joke book 8 Bit Groan […]
Posted inArt
Invoicing the Internet
Local Artists Go Toe-to-Toe with BuzzFeed
Local artists go toe-to-toe with internet giant BuzzFeed.
Posted inComic Books
Joe Sacco's Newest Comic Will Be For the Internet. THE INTERNET!
Portland-based cartoon journalist Joe Sacco has written and drawn about the Middle East, Bosnia, Portland, and most recently World War I. For his latest project he’s going back to the Balkans. Srebrenica, is a webcomic that looks back on a massacre in the Balkans through the eyes of one improbable survivor. The project is something […]
Posted inBooks
Carnage in the Centerfold
Joe Sacco Goes Panoramic in The Great War
Joe Sacco’s panoramic look at The Great War.
Posted inGeneral
Murder & Mayhem in Portland, Oregon
An Interview with Portland True Crime Author JD Chandler
JD Chandler is probably Portland’s most obsessive criminal historian. He’s catalogued approximately 2,300 Portland-area homicides in a gigantic document that he calls his Slabtown Chronology, writes about history on his blog, Slabtown Chronicle, and is the author of Murder & Mayhem in Portland, Oregon and Hidden History of Portland, Oregon. ___________________________________________________________ MERCURY: How did you […]
Posted inGeneral
The Millionaire Panhandler
Separating the Facts from the Myths Surrounding Panhandling
Debunking a few panhandling myths—with help from actual Portland panhandlers.