DREAMS AND MUSH

RE: “My, What a Busy Week!” [Nov 21] in which we take a giant step outside ourselves to recommend a show featuring two popular Portland musical acts.

DEAR SARAH MIRK—Laura Gibson = so dreamy. Typhoon = mush. They’re just another emo band that sounds like the Polyphonic Spree, only not as large.

-Isaac Hudson

HAIL SATAN-MUSING ATHEISTS

RE: “Ah! So THIS Is What an Atheist Looks Like.” [Blogtown, Nov 20], in which author Wm. Steven Humphrey shares a billboard meant to un-demonize atheists by showing an example of a normal, smiling dude that had been vandalized to give him devil horns.

STEVE—Curious point raised by a [commenter] on your website, who noted that the person on the billboard’s last name, Hecate, is that of an ancient Greek goddess associated with witchcraft and necromancy, among other things. That led me to do a web search, which indicated he may be the only person in the US with that name. That begs the question of whether he chose that name for himself, and if so, whether he’s the best choice to be a poster child for a tolerance of atheism campaign. As for me, I would say so, as I believe tolerance of atheists who might have an affinity for the dark arts people is no less a good goal than tolerance of run-of-the-mill no-godders.   

-Steve A. 

BETTER OFF DEAD

RE: “Pig Stripping: Fetish or Sadism?” [Letters, Nov 21], in which a reader questions whether there’s “perhaps a whiff of sadism” in “Barnyard Butchery” [Food Issue, Nov 14], in which author Chris Onstad recounts the experience of taking a pig-head butchery class.

I’m a vegetarian, but still, I can’t see how it’s sadism to cut meat off of the head of a DEAD pig. If Porky has already slipped this mortal coil, cutting meat off his head is no more sadistic than performing an autopsy is being sadistic to the corpse you’re performing it on.

-posted by AlaskanNow

SUPER SCIENCE

RE: “Keep Portland Paranormal” [Feature Nov 21], in which author Alex Zielinksi takes a look at the prevalence of interest and belief in the paranormal in Portland.

First of all, this article asks the wrong question. How about “Why do so many people in Portland believe in the paranormal?” I’d wager for the same reasons so many people here believe in homeopathy, horoscopes, and fluoride as a conspiracy. I’ve been on ghost hunts. I’ve chased UFOs. There’s a lot more psychology, sociology, and flat-out misinterpretation that takes place under heightened circumstances. It’s not ignorance by any stretch, but it does go hand in hand with a poor understanding of the scientific method. When you start at your conclusion and work backward, the tendency is to cherry-pick data to support your conclusions and see patterns that aren’t really there. As for collecting evidence: We live in an age where virtually everyone is armed with a camera phone. If there were so many convincing cases of hauntings, alien encounters, hell, BIGFOOT… we’d have some decent photos or video by now. As the maxim goes, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. At such time that something convincing is submitted, tested and tested again, the scientific outlook will adapt.

-posted by groschopf

CARRIE ON

RE: “Tonight at the Bagdad: Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein” [Blogtown, Nov 20], regarding a promotional appearance the Portlandia actors were making in support of the new book Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors, and containing an unfavorable review.

I just want to say that I sincerely appreciate the amount of time the Portland Mercury spends on writing about Portlandia. Your critique and dislike of the show makes for a more interesting conversation and polemic, and I much prefer those to ambivalence. Anyhow, just wanted to say thanks.

-Carrie Brownstein

CONGRATULATIONS TO CARRIE for publicly admitting that we’re right about why Portlandia isn’t funny. That must have been a very difficult and brave thing to do. As consolation, Carrie wins two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, where you can drink a pitcher of beer while watching a film, which is kind of a Portland (no “ia”) thing.

16 replies on “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR”

  1. I think the folks at Portland Mercury are a little butthurt over Portlandia. Most likely because the show parodies the exact type of people the Merc employs and champions=Self-important hipster d-bags. But they also clown on Pearl yuppies, hippies, foodies, etc. The show is pretty funny because it holds a mirror to quirky Portland. What’s the big deal? Too close for comfort? If you can’t laugh at yourself…

  3. No, it’s not funny because Fred Armisen is in it, and Lorne Michaels is involved. Carrie is the only thing good about it. To say nothing of the role that show willingly plays in the further commodification, and resulting gentrification, of Portland.

  6. @cryaboutit and BokChoy:
    Congratulations, those comments are so original I’ve only read them about a hundred times before, in damn near every discussion of the show I’ve ever stumbled across. Good job trying to make a show you like immune to any criticism or ridicule. You find it funny, so if someone else doesn’t, there must be something wrong with them, right? Jesus, that’s as annoying as any Portlandia character. What makes you think you know the real deep-down reasons someone you don’t know doesn’t like a show? Your presumptuousness is seriously irritating, particularly cryaboutit’s pathetic need to buy into some artificial “type of people” category upon which to base a judgmental superiority to a huge spectrum of people and things that the Merc covers. I hope I can be as awesome as you someday.
    Not everything that “holds a mirror” does so with good ideas, writing, sense of comic timing, etc. And something is funny just because it’s true? How is that supposed to work? “Sh*t My Dad Says” may be true, but I’m pretty sure it’s not funny.

  7. annatta, I am not sure what Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels have done merit your disdain; to say “the role that show willingly plays in the further commodification, and resulting gentrification, of Portland.” is a ridiculous overstatement. If anything, Mayor Sam Adams skilled marketing of Portland, Oregon across the nation and his urban renewal programs are more to blame for the ills that you cite.

    geyser, your comment is punctuation to my earlier comment. Thank you.

  8. “Punctuation”? Okay. I guess my criticism of your original obtuse, rhyming—fortune-cookie-like in its simplicity yet revealing nothing—will stand.

  9. Cryaboutit, you have a point but it has been made before and the people you reference will never cop to it. Also, I generally don’t find the show funny and I am pretty sure I do not fit any of the stereotypes parodied.

  10. Fair enough, guys. The only reason I felt compelled to leave a somewhat harsh comment was after having read Carrie’s letter, the Merc responds with:

    “CONGRATULATIONS TO CARRIE for publicly admitting that we’re right about why Portlandia isn’t funny. That must have been a very difficult and brave thing to do.”

    Seems to me there’s some underlying insecurity issues there. But then you’ve heard that all before *wink, wink*

  12. BokChoy: Jeez. I’m not sure where you got the idea that I said Portlandia was solely responsible for gentrification. A more attentive reading would have revealed that I claimed it played a “role” in the commodification of Portland, which I believe to be -a- cause of gentrification. Did Sam play a major role? Yes? So did local corporations and our tourism officials. And others.

    And don’t go looking for complicated explanations for my feelings about Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels. I merely find them annoying and unfunny

  13. BokChoy: Thanks back at you for all the punctuation and another dull non-response. “Just wow.”?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! OH MY GOD, just… O…M….G…..”Wow”? What? Are you kidding me?!!? [falls out of chair; writhes in contortions on floor; co-worker helpfully puts wallet in geyser’s mouth to prevent tongue-swallowing]

    Helpful note to anyone tallying those all-important like/dislike votes for this comment: simply add both numbers together and that’s the real number of coveted “likes” because this comment is “true” so anyone who dislikes it is outing their own “issues,” which only adds to this comment’s merit. Just like Portlandia, yay!

  14. @ geyser’s co-worker –

    If a person is having an epileptic seizure:

    – try to remove any objects on which the person could hurt themselves cushion their head with something soft if they have collapsed to the ground

    – NEVER put anything in the person’s mouth during an attack; don’t hold them down

    – after the seizure has stopped, put them into the recovery position and check that their breathing is returning to normal

    – stay with the person until they regain consciousness, then try to calm them if necessary

    – if the fit lasts for more than 5 minutes, an ambulance should be called immediately

    – if their breathing sounds difficult after the seizure has stopped, an ambulance should be called immediately

    – if they are injured, or they have another seizure without recovering fully from the first seizure, an ambulance should be called immediately.

    – let boss know that geyser is wasting valuable work time and resources.

  15. @cryabout it…again you are correct in your assertion, but no one on the staff or most of these “posters” are not going to admit it because it hits to close to home . Which does not make them bad people per se. Also “gentrification” is not unique to Portland and was around long before this show, just as white yuppies/”hipsters” were moving to Portland en masse before it came out.

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