Los Angeles artist Michael Sakamoto works Woody Allen-esque threads of absurdist humor into Butoh-influenced movement explorations of dark emotion and chaos.
Justin W. Sanders
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Comfort Food
Eugenio’s Bumps Up to “Bistro”
After three years as strictly a dry goods ‘n’ sandwich shop, Division’s Eugenio’s announced in January it would transform into a full-on bistro.
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Hamburger Helper
Beef ‘n’ Buns = Tons of Fun
We know what you’re thinking: “What the hell is there left to say about the hamburger?”
Posted inMovies & TV
Fawning Hyperbole
And Why Burials Makes it Necessary
The two best movies of the last year are cowboy movies. One is about gay cowboys, and the other, Tommy Lee Jones’ The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, is about a dead cowboy. Burials follows grizzled old ranch hand Pete Perkins (Jones), whose close friend, fellow ranch hand Melquiades (Julio Cesar Cedrillo), is an illegal […]
Posted inArt
Joseph Fisher
After years toiling away as a Portland playwright, including a four-year gig as Stark Raving’s playwright in residence, Joseph Fisher was one of four people selected last year (out of 3,000!) to participate in Disney’s Screenwriting Fellowship program. The prize brought him back to his hometown of LA, where he now toils away on film […]
Posted inMusic
Missing Lucinda
Rock-Fried Country vs. Deep-Fried Fish
SUMMER OF ’98. SEATTLE. My college roommate and I are at the annual “Fourth of Jul-Ivar’s” Independence Day celebration at Myrtle Edwards Park. We wander, bored, past food vendors and screeching diaper-clad toddlers. There’s a band playing in the distance: someone named Lucinda Williams and some backup musicians. “I’ve heard of this lady,” I say. […]
Posted inNews
The Last
A Classic American Game May Be on the Verge of Extinction – But Portland Pinball Pros Aren’t Giving Up Yet
At Ringler’s Pub downtown, the jukebox blares out over a low hum of laughing and talking. It takes me a minute of squinting to locate the bar’s lone pinball machine, wedged behind the pool tables. It’s called Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and leaning against it is local pinball guru Mink Staccato, AKA Scott McKinnon, […]
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Risky Business
Rafael’s Takes on NE 37th & Sandy
The building on the south side of 37th and NE Sandy doesn’t have a reputation for being lucky. Replacing a strip club, the Blackbird managed to crash and burn there, despite consistently hosting some of the best rock shows in town. And it perhaps goes without saying that the next business to take up residence […]
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The Trouble with Pasta
Here’s a Hint: It’s Cheap
Pasta is a difficult item to take seriously in the cutthroat world of fine dining. Anyone can boil spaghetti and heat up some store-bought marinara sauce in the microwave. Thus, an upscale pasta joint has to really wow me if I’m going to feel good about dropping my cash there. Started by the folks behind […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Cooke Cooks
Sam Cooke: Great Subject, So-So Movie
Sam Cooke: Legend is far from the best movie you’ll see at the Northwest Film Center’s Reel Music Festival (a glut of music-related films showing throughout the month), but it could have the best subject. With perhaps the most mellifluous singing voice in the history of popular music, Sam Cooke could have just made recordings […]
Posted inNews
20 Things Not Invited Back to 2006!
As human beings evolve, doesn’t it make sense that things should get better? Then why are there still so many annoying things annoying us? Well, we’re putting an end to all things annoying RIGHT NOW. Here’s our list of things from 2005 that AREN’T invited back to 2006! Vancouver, WA Take a drive up I-5 […]