AltWeeklies Wire
Can Portland's Food Cart Boom Continue Through the Coming Winter?new
So far Portland eaters have been able to sustain the crowded mobile food community. But can it last? With winter on the way, the question remains if all 91 new carts opened this year will survive a saturated market and cold months.
The Portland Mercury |
Patrick Alan Coleman |
11-13-2009 |
Food+Drink
'2012': BOOM! CRASH! JOHN CUSACK!new
2012 is pure pandemonium, and it's like two and a half hours of it, and if you're not in the mood for an inane summer blockbuster in the middle of November, then move along, killjoy -- no one wants you here.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
11-13-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Roland Emmerich, 2012
Oregon's Filthy Secret: It is Fueled by 40 Percent Dirty Coalnew
While Portland's high-profile green innovations are helping the city's image become synonymous with sustainability (see: condo developers topping their downtown towers with wind turbines) the city runs on a dirty secret. Forty percent of Portland's energy comes from a very un-green source.
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
10-29-2009 |
Environment
'Antichrist' is Kinda Like Taking a Pair of Rusty Scissors to Your Lady Placenew
I've been thinking about this film for weeks, slowly turning it over in my head, and while I still haven't fully sussed it out, I do know that Antichrist is visually arresting, relentlessly cruel, and intensely, genuinely interesting.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
10-29-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Antichrist, Lars von Trier
'Coco Before Chanel' is an Inspiring Portrait of a Rebel Feministnew
Though its subject is arguably the most recognizable in fashion, Coco Before Chanel is more concerned with individuality than clothing. As Coco Chanel herself once famously put it, "Fashion passes, style remains."
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
10-22-2009 |
Reviews
Zen and the Art of Guitar Feedback: A Quarter Century of Yo La Tengonew
Yo La Tengo's artistic philosophy becomes clearer in Ira Kaplan's Zen-like calm. During our conversation he is relaxed, measured, and thoughtful, and appears almost wholly uninterested in the theoretical -- and the business surrounding the band.
The Portland Mercury |
Andrew R Tonry |
10-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Law Abiding Citizen' is the Silliest Episode of 'Law & Order' Evernew
Whoever to combine torture porn with an indictment of our legal system should be chopped limb from limb.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
10-16-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Law Abiding Citizen, F. Gary Gray
The Globe-Straddling Music of South Africa's BLK JKS Transcends Racenew
When a quartet of black South Africans reclaims that whitest of white genres -- progressive rock, long the bastion of pimply tech-heads and doughy shut-ins -- the predominately Caucasian world of indie rock sits up and takes notice.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
10-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: After Robots, BLK JKS
How Alicia Silverstone Made Me Vegannew
The Kind Diet is a cookbook, yes, but the first half is dedicated to a surprisingly readable, occasionally affably ditzy, and heartfelt argument as to why one should consider the benefits of a "plant-based diet," which -- unbelievably redundant as it may seem -- is the politically correct way of saying "vegan."
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
10-16-2009 |
Nonfiction
Upstart Portland Bike Builders Reinvent a Craft -- And Will Soon Race Their Old Heronew
When Mark DiNucci quit building in 1985, he and friends say he was the only person in Portland who built bikes one at a time by hand. Now there are at least 30 Portlanders crafting bikes like DiNucci did, almost all of them opening up shop in the last decade.
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
10-02-2009 |
Sports
The Dead Freeway Society: The Strange History of Portland's Unbuilt Roadsnew
While other American cities have built, built, built, Portland's freeway history is boom and bust: massive road projects were planned, mapped, and sold as progress by one generation, then killed by another.
The Portland Mercury |
Sarah Mirk |
09-25-2009 |
Transportation
TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone Finds Himself With Solo Projectnew
With a lion's mane of hair concealing his head and face, Kyp Malone is easily the most recognizable unrecognizable member of TV on the Radio. He also comes across as the most reserved of the five-piece, which isn't to imply that Malone has nothing to say. Quite the contrary.
The Portland Mercury |
Mark Lore |
09-25-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Road to Somewhere: David Byrne's Energizing 'Bicycle Diaries'new
The underlying message here is that while bicycling may be a political movement, it can also be liberating and fun at the same time. I'm hoping Byrne's book now heralds bicycling's offbeat entry into the American mainstream, just as his wacky persona hit the big time thanks to our parents' taste in pop music.
The Portland Mercury |
Matt Davis |
09-25-2009 |
Nonfiction
The Tricks in 'The Burning Plain' are as Tired as its Mopey Charactersnew
These people and timelines are all tied together under big themes of utmost gravitas, and a strong cast delivers compelling characters whose lives are interesting enough to maintain reasonable curiosity. But these cards have simply been played far too many times, and to far more powerful effect; Plain can't help but look a bit pale in comparison.
The Portland Mercury |
Marjorie Skinner |
09-25-2009 |
Reviews
'Jennifer's Body': Your Average Sensitive Teen Slasher Picnew
While screenwriter Diablo Cody has been accused of being overly precious, here her cleverly worded script is streamlined to fit into the slash 'n' sex genre of horror. While the quips come fast, funny, and furious, it never slows down the plot or Kusama's thoughtful direction, which often reveals the underlying truths behind Cody's deceptively glib teen-speak.
The Portland Mercury |
Wm. Steven Humphrey |
09-18-2009 |
Reviews
