I’ve not been able to get a very clear answer from the Bus Project about why they didn’t include the race for city council in last night’s Candidates Gone Wild event at the Aladdin Theater. I mean, it seems like the race between Dan Saltzman and Jesse Cornett warrants some serious probing. Perhaps Saltzman wouldn’t agree to appear? Who knows…
- STEPHEN MARC BEAUDOIN
- BRILLIANT PHOTOGRAPH OF CANDIDATES GONE WILD
Last night’s was the “eighth year” that the event has run, according to MC Storm Large, who took her hostess fee despite having literally knelt on the steps of city hall last year to sing Amazing Grace, following Willamette Week‘s coverage of the Breedlove scandal. Although “I still think some of them are dicks,” she said, to conclude her appearance. Why not simply say, “well, they had to pay somebody,” Storm? I would have had more respect for you.
Update, 12:22, April 28: Storm was only paid a bottle of Maker’s for her trouble. I stand corrected.
Original post: The low point of the night was a joke by a fake Sarah Palin character about shooting the mentally ill and homeless, downtown. “I say we’ve got a population control problem,” she said, suggesting the culling operation begin at Hoyt Arboretum. Now, I’m all for humor. And I realized later that if I were writing that skit, I’d probably have pushed it just as far. Comedy is about discomfort. Etcetera. But it angered me at the time, and I found myself heckling at her to fuck off. Edgy. Although Storm said the folks at Curious Comedy Theater do “incredibly funny, funny stuff,” so perhaps I was wrong.
What else? Metro Regional Council President David Bragdon told Tom Hughes, a candidate to replace him, that he could “kiss it goodbye” after having been endorsed by the Portland Business Alliance. Karol Collymore stole the show in a fantastic pair of ruby slippahs “that would account for her huge gay fanbase,” to quote le Beaud. Bob Stacey said something awkward about a “metrosexual fright wig,” which literally silenced the room. Gary Hansen taught Paul Newman how to cook a crab in Newport. True story.
County Candidate Tom Markgraf said he once told Prince Charles to “get the fuck out of Northern Ireland,” which would be amusing, were it not for the fact that the Irish Republican Army bombed the living shit out of my homeland when I was a child. Hearing the prince so disrespected by a bridge whore like Markgraf made me want to have a more thorough discussion of the Irish situation with him later. Maybe on Friday, during our endorsement interview. Or afterward. Who knows.
Didn’t Storm sing Amazing Grace in support of Sam Adams? What does that have to do with the run for Saltzman’s position?
A bit?
@Reymont She did. She melodramatically and hysterically supported Adams. She attacked Willamette Week for breaking the story. I’m not sure where you make the link to Saltzman. It was in a separate paragraph. But I was suggesting that to slam a paper, sing Amazing Grace on your knees about the impact of its reporting, and then take its money at a political event the following year might be…I don’t know…putting your own desperate desire for attention above the need to be morally consistent? Takes one to know one, of course.
@Bronch I edited this down considerably.
It has been a really, really long and annoying 15 minutes for Storm Large.
Wow, why even go through the motions of an endorsement in the County race? We all know Davis will be endorsing his chum Collymore.
Matt Davis has a crush on Collymore. Check the Merc archives for all the puff piece fawning. I’m not saying she’s unattractive, but it is not good journalism.
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@Matt – Oh! This event was put on by the Willamette Week? I see your point about Storm, then – that’s funny. But it doesn’t say it was their event in the article, sheesh!
I’m really confused as to why you would suggest Saltzman wouldn’t appear? Maybe it was Cornett or Volm who wouldn’t appear?
…especially since Saltzman has appeared in the past. Please explain Matt Davis!
Cornett is not a viable candidate. Saltzman represents “business as usual” and the old boy network in City Hall. His performance as Police Bureau Commissioner has been stunningly inept. It’s time for him to go. Mary Volm is more than capable of running a bureaucracy. She has done so in more ways than Saltzman during her 20 years with the City
Matt,
A few thoughts on this post:
1) Thanks for attending the Candidates Gone Wild event and writing a recap.
2) You write: “I’ve not been able to get a very clear answer from the Bus Project about why they didn’t include the race for city council in last night’s Candidates Gone Wild event at the Aladdin Theater.” Considering that this is your lead sentence for this post, who did you talk to on the record at the Bus Project to get an answer? The Bus Project sent you a CGW press release on Friday with my name and contact info and I’d be happy to give you a clear answer to your question if you still want one.
3) This is the second time in four months you’ve taken a shot a Storm Large in your blog (Haiti Benefit 1/22/10). That is nice that you’ve now corrected your post to note that she didn’t get paid a fee for Monday night’s event after not checking your facts in the first place. But that still doesn’t remove your vendetta — which you openly admit — against Storm. You need to change your attitude because it doesn’t fit the facts. Storm does at least two things that you should respect instead of mock: A) She can fill large rooms in Portland (and elsewhere) with her top-notch performances and, B) she volunteers for many causes each year out of passion and public-mindedness — not self-aggrandizement. I’ve worked with Storm on at least three events and her work-ethic doesn’t match your casual observations. Stephen Marc Beaudoin — the organizer of the Haiti benefit — said as much to you after working with Storm in January. After getting it wrong two events in a row, isn’t about time you move on to another narrative?
Yeah, Matt, you really need to get in line with the Storm worship. I’m starting to think you’re not a true Portlander. If you were, you’d know that Storm Large is the next big thing, and she’s really going to put Portland on the map someday. You’ll see. Anyway, you’re just a jealous hater, because her band was on a reality TV show once, and she can really pack ’em in in Portland, where we want so much to have a real celebrity in our midst. What have you ever done? (I mean, besides your work on housing and mental health issues, and stuff like that, which doesn’t really matter in the pop culture world of Portland politics.)