BRING ON THE OPERACYCLE!
DEAR PORTLAND MERCURY: I thought you all were supposed
to inform the public of above average bands in the Northwest? Who in the hell
is the Operacycle and where did they come from? More importantly, who the hell
is their insanely amazing drummer and why haven’t you all told me all I need to
know about them yet?

I want to know about the Operacycle and every good band like them in Portland and when they are playing. Sorry to rant. I really do love your paper. I read it from cover to cover every week and laugh my ass off.

David L.

Julianne Shepherd responds: OHMIGOD! We love the Operacycle, too! That’s
why in next week’s Mercury, look for a big honking article on our new
favorite band, The Operacycle and their amazing drummer, Jordan Hudson!

INSPECTOR “GADGET”
TO THE EDITOR: The Sensualists’ “Adaptations” LP is a rare,
unique collaboration featuring some of our town’s most talented dj’s and electronic
artists [CD Review, Jan 4]. I think these reinterpretations of the Sensualists’
early songs were intended as a chance for (mostly) hometown remix heroes to
shine, rather than the band itself. Sadly, Joe Faustin Kelly seems to have overlooked
this celebratory and communal aspect, in favor of parading around his issues
with the so-called trend of implementing electronic or loop-based stylings into
a rock/pop context. A trite arguement, I think, considering the concept of remixing
pop/rock artists is one that has existed for a measurably long time, and the
concept of remixing itself far longer. Perhaps someday critics such as Kelley
will get over the multiplicity of “gadgetry” in our 21st century musical atmosphere,
and be able to intelligently critique songwriting that uses it, without being
stifled by the medium.

Peter Lytton

THE HIPPITUDE OF LUCRE
DEAR EDITOR: Thanks for Monica Drake’s review of the new Rebecca Solnit book
Hollow City [Jan 4]. It’s truly a heartbreaking story–the coolest city
in the country invaded by dotcom yuppies and developed out of existence. Even
though the virtual boom has by now inevitably busted, San Francisco’s unique
culture has been destroyed, maybe forever. In Portland, the sleepy little town
that time forgot, we ought to take note, consider what the hippitude of lucre
has wrought (on Trendy-Third, Hawthorne) and is currently wreaking in Alberta
(see Phil Busse’s “NAACP Forms Task Force to Stop Gentrification” [Jan 11]).
When the poor, the ethnic, the othersexed, students, artists, the differently
headset, are screwed out of housing and hangout, culture as a whole goes right
down a shiny toilet.

Monica, Phil, Katia, keep at it. Keep writing what the other guys are to chickenshit to write. You can be my valentines.

Doug Spangle

NEWSFLASH! RAPE ISN’T FUNNY!
TO THE EDITOR: Your recent “Sex Survey” [Jan 11] took a fun idea and twisted
it around in a way that’s just plain sick. I am referring to your inclusion
of “rape” on a “sex” survey. “Rape” has no place on a “sex” survey, no matter
how lightheartedly you attempt to touch on the matter. At least your survey
prefaced the rape section with the comment “boo for this shit,” but this comment
hardly makes the inclusion of rape in a “sex” survey excusable. Rape does not
equal sex. Rape is an act of violence, the use of penetrative force to exert
power and control over an individual. Perhaps your next sex survey could have
a heavier focus on different common household objects people enjoy placing up
their butts in sexual interaction between consenting partners (the key word
being consenting). Joking about rape isn’t funny on any level–it’s just plain
fucked up.

Maria Cincotta

The Mercury responds: Believe it or not, I think we’re all in agreement
that rape is not funny. However, who are you to say what “belongs” in a sex
survey and what doesn’t? Rape is non-consensual, but so is contracting HIV,
being slipped a “roofie,” or even being cheated on by a significant other–these
topics are to be ignored in a sex survey? Sex isn’t all just candy canes and
lollipops, ya know.

And while we’re on the topic, there’s still time to fill out the Mercury Sex Survey! Covering funny topics as well as very serious ones, our survey will
reveal exactly what Portland has been up to in the varied arena of “sexuality.”
Go to www.portlandmercury. com and fill it out before Thursday, January
25, and then read the results in our February 8 issue!