Remember when it was fashionable to be a skinny waif who ate only salads and the occasional dry tortilla? Well times have changed, and these days it’s far more fashionable to be a fat, donut-chowing glutton. Calories? Fuck ’em! Not only are people not counting them, they’re actually waiting in line for two hours in […]
Katie Shimer
Posted inMusic
Musician Or Puppet?
Andrew W.K. Can’t Disguise The Wolf
Andrew W.K. The Wolf (Island) * It’s funny, because no one can quite get a handle on Andrew W.K.’s steez. His last two releases are on Island Records, he wrote a song for Kit Kat, he’s on a Coors commercial, and yet he sprang from the underground noise punk label Bulb Records as just a […]
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The Very Finest
Gushing About Green Papaya
Apparently, upscale Vietnamese cuisine is the latest restaurant trend, much like the return of tapas was the trend (at least in Portland) a couple of years ago. Before that I have no idea what the trend was because I was living in culturally bereft Iowa City and eating day old bread from Big Mike’s Super […]
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You Can’t Unhurt a Feeling
You’re Offending People—Without Even Knowing It!
In the ’90s, speaking in a “politically correct” vernacular (“African American” instead of “black,” “gay” instead of “fag,” “differently abled” instead of “crippled”) was a social necessity. However, in the somewhat less p.c. 2000s, it seems that more and more people are reverting back to a pre-’90s style. Is this an acceptable relaxation of social […]
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Stoner Hands of Doom
The Heavy Metal Fest, Straight from the Metalheads’ Mouths
Unless someone else takes over the organizing, the Stoner Hands of Doom festival is in its fifth and final year. An annual festival of all bands rock/metal/doom/sludge and loud as hell, it’s time to pack up the bong one final time (yeah, right), and head down to Berbati’s for some head-banging and tinnitus. SHOD’s last […]
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Parallels Everywhere
Malanga Strives For Upper-Crust
Pambiche and its sister restaurant Canita used to have a monopoly on the Cuban food market in Portland. But suddenly, the soulful sister restaurants have some competition; but then again, not much. Malanga, one of the newest additions to Portland’s highbrow restaurants makes Cuban food of a different breed entirely. At Pambiche you enjoy huge […]
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If You Can’t Stand the Smoke, Ban the Smoke
New Legislation to Ban Smoking in Bars is Gaining Approval… and Why Shouldn’t It?
After about six hours of partying at a local bar a few Fridays ago, I’d managed to smoke 18 cigarettes. The next morning I woke up feeling like shit–but not only that; I was nearly paralyzed. My chest felt tight, and I thought I was having a heart attack. I went for a walk to […]
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Ode to the Oyster
Dan and Louis Seduces Your Mouth
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar 208 SW Ankeny 227-5906 The oyster. People either love it or they hate it. The slithery, gelatinous texture; the salty, seawater taste; the cocktail sauce and horseradish to dress it. Personally, I love the oyster. It’s raw and wet and completely unprocessed; the evidence is the barnacle-coated shell. Plus, oysters […]
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Con-Fusion
La Bella Nonna Flounders
In Portland, you can look through the window of a restaurant and know if it’s any good. Pambiche is constantly overflowing with people, at the Delta you have to wait a half-hour during the week, and La Bonita always has at least a few tables filled. One of my friends thinks this is because Portlanders […]
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Simple Satisfaction
The John Street: Fresh and Clean
Sometimes you just want to eat normal stuff. No cheese-logged chile rellenos, no mammoth steaks, no burgers with fries dripping in grease, no vegan salad dressing; just the basics preserved in their natural state, like old people eat. Well, regular old food is the specialty at the John Street Café. Sandwiches come with a healthy […]
Posted inMusic
Dear Snoop Dogg…
Interview with the D-O-Double Gizzle Edited
Snoop Dogg Mon July 28 Keller Auditorium There is no rapper on the planet more legendary than Snoop Dogg and no newspaper more legendary than the Portland Mercury. It’s a marriage made in heaven, and therefore only proper that Snoop agreed to answer some of the Mercury staff’s most pressing questions via e-mail DEAR SNOOP: […]
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Off The Sauce
Hey Drunky! Saying “No Way” to AA? Here are Some Alternative Methods to Kick Your Liquor Addiction.
I come from a family of alcoholics. My mom’s an alcoholic, my dad’s an alcoholic, my step-dad is an alcoholic, both my (dead) grandfathers were alcoholics, my grandmother is an alcoholic, and there’s a slew of other alcoholics as well. On my mom’s side of the family, only a few of the alcoholics still drink. […]