We’re in the doldrums, my Lost-watching brethren. With season two having ended a few months ago—and season three months away—I’m starting to get withdrawal symptoms, imagining myself stranded on a mysterious and hostile island. And if there’s one character from Lost whom I would choose to be stranded with, it’s Mr. Eko. (Okay, in my […]
Phil Busse
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Fed Up
Last week, Mayor Tom Potter, flanked by three city council members, stood in city hall and announced that an FBI agent had attempted to spy on city employees. It was an unsettling revelation—that the country has slid so far into paranoia that it was essentially spying on itself. But what was perhaps even more startling […]
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Who You Will Vote For 2006!
Welcome to Democracy
Primary elections during midterm, non-presidential years tend to be quiet affairs that attract little attention—but this year’s races have shattered that perception entirely. Not only is it the first election cycle to feature candidates taking part in Voter-Owned Elections, but several races could be decided on May 16 without advancing to the November general election. […]
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Paul van Orden for Sheriff!
So far, the election season has been simmering over a low flame. But there is one campaign beyond the margins of the voters’ pamphlets that’s heating up—Paul van Orden is asking you to write him in as a candidate for Multnomah County sheriff. And you should! The current sheriff, Bernie Giusto, is a disaster and […]
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Potter’s Promise
In his State of the City address two months ago, Mayor Tom Potter reasserted his commitment to community policing. It is an oft-used refrain for the mayor. But isn’t it time for Potter to stop promising and start delivering? As the candidates for two city council seats are spouting evermore about what they will do, […]
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And Another Thing
Say Anything
Last Thursday, February 23, with only two months remaining before the primary elections, City Commissioner Erik Sten finally kicked off his reelection campaign. His staff chose the cavernous Wonder Ballroom in North Portland for the kickoff and packed the place—at least for a brief moment. At 9 pm, when I trekked upstairs from the basement […]
Posted inMovies & TV
I’m Staying Home
SUPER BOWL FANTASY FOOTBALL
All right, sportos—the Super Bowl’s this Sunday! But while you’re stocking up on dip and wagering on the Seahawks, think about it: What does the Super Bowl offer that blockbuster films can’t deliver? Janet Jackson’s breast? Please! Here are four football movies that have more testosterone in their opening credits than this year’s Super Bowl […]
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Hiphop please stop?
Three weeks ago the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) released results from an investigation into whether an Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) agent had made racist comments to Rami Makboul, the co-owner of the now defunct club The Vue. Last summer Makboul claimed that in 1997, an OLCC agent told him, “blacks belonged to Northeast […]
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Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Glory Road Misses the Jump Shots
Somebody really needs to stop Disney from making sports films. The studio seems determined to lamely recast every underdog moment in recent sporting history, from a sterilized take on Seabiscuit to the cheesy treatment of Miracle, an unlikely story about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team. But with its latest, Glory Road, Disney has ventured […]
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GET OFF YOUR ASS! Get this: According to several year-end studies, Americans are generally unhappy about the state of politics! Shocking? Of course not. In response, more and more Americans are getting involved in civic projects and politics. But that sense of civic duty is not translating to local politics here in Portland. Have you […]
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My personal mission
In October, an organization called First Things First (FTF) started circulating signature sheets to qualify a ballot initiative for May’s election. If passed, it would destroy the public campaign-financing plan that city council approved last May. Backed by the Portland Business Alliance (PBA), FTF is worried that public campaign financing will loosen businesses’ grip on […]
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Heavenly Half-Shells
Upscale Oysters Find a Home on Alberta
Peter Hochman grew up in Chesapeake Bay, where oysters cluster like groupies at a Mötley Crüe concert. Eventually, Hochman migrated west, kicking around the culinary scene in San Francisco before moving to Portland six years ago, where he’s put his keen understanding of restaurants and oysters to good use: the newly opened Alberta Street Oyster […]