Slideshow: The Upsidedown, Carcrashlander, and 1776 at Berbati’s Pan 5/30/2009
May 31, 2009 1:23 pm by Mike Burnett
Archive for May, 2009
Welcome Skidmore Bluffs!
May 27, 2009 6:15 pm by Mike Burnett
From this moment forth Describetheruckus.com will proudly feature the weekly photo-comic Skidmore Bluffs by Zander Speaks. We’re starting with number 76 – Misunderstanding.
Related Posts:
Portlanders Posed as British Bigots
May 23, 2009 1:44 pm by Lauren Hudgins
Some Portlanders are unwittingly representing the far-right, whites-only British National Party. Their pictures were used in campaign materials supporting the BNP for its anti-immigration stance.
The poster demands “British jobs for British workers” and it shows three smiling men in hard-hats urging people to vote BNP. But the “building workers” in the ad – which is being driven up and down the country on a BNP vehicle called the “Truth Truck” – are not even British. They are American models who posed for a general photo agency shoot in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Another shot in the same set shows a black man working alongside white colleagues – but the racist BNP didn’t use that one.
From Mirror.co.uk
Apparently nobody in the UK likes the BNP enough to pose for their pictures, or even to take their pictures. The photographer is ironically from a Mexican immigrant family.
Related Posts:
A Review of Signs and Signals From the Periphery on PORT
May 21, 2009 10:30 pm by Lauren Hudgins
Happy Prescriptions – Fear Of Love (Exclusive Release)
May 20, 2009 9:17 pm by Mike Burnett
Describetheruckus.com is proud to present the exclusive digital release of Happy Prescriptions’ new album Fear of Love. Natron Dreaming, the man behind the curtain, threw an album art party for the initial public hearing, and the surviving art will be incorporated into the physical copies (news to come). That being said, the digital cover is one of my favorites in quite some time and features a photograph by Portland photographer Jamen Lee.
Sample tracks “Dark Antenna” and “Animal”:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Click here to download Fear of Love.
Happy Prescriptions on Bandcamp (listen to the band’s other records)
http://happyprescriptions.com/ (navigate big pictures of Derrida)
Related Posts:
A Minimum Wage For Portland Musicians – Fair Pay To Play
May 17, 2009 3:48 pm by Mike Burnett
Last month my band was contacted via Myspace by Ross Lampert, an organizer at Portland’s Musicians Union Local 99. The union has started reaching out to Portland musicians about a new campaign to establish a minimum wage for performing musicians in Portland. Portland is the flagship city for the campaign, which they’ve dubbed Fair Pay To Play. Lampert wanted to meet in person, which surprised me. After looking at the list of endorsements including dozens of local groups like Minmae and Loch Lomond and local figures like Ethos’ Charles Lewis I agreed to meet Lampert for some coffee near the union headquarters near Sandy and NE 20th.
[I should mention that before meeting Lampert, I agreed to add my band's name to the list of supporters. One of the reasons for this was that I'm a big believer of and volunteer at Ethos, and so seeing Charles Lewis' name on the list helped convince me to take the campaign seriously.]
One of the first things I asked Lampert about was what the union was looking for from local musicians in order to advance the campaign and achieve the minimum wage. One of the biggest things musicians can do, of course, is to join the union. The campaign needs money to get the word out. But this brings me to one of the Catch-22′s I’ve considered while mulling over this article. How do musicians justify something like union dues when they’re often playing for drink tickets and if they’re lucky a cut of the door? Perhaps if membership guaranteed a minimum wage.
It would cost a band of four $636 dollars per year to be members of the Local 99, and that’s if they all pay together for the whole year in January, which waves the initiation fees ($85 per member) and gives a slight discount on the quarterly dues. Membership includes perks like a free practice space (shared with other union members) and instrument repair, however it doesn’t guarantee a minimum wage, let alone job security or health insurance.
Let’s look at the pay scale the union is currently suggesting:
Just looking at that first rate for 1-star venues of $30/hr, which is per performing member, we can see this means that the smallest of music venues would have to agree to pay a band of four $120 to play for one hour. If two bands of four played for 1 hour each, that would mean the venue would pay out $240. This is in my opinion unrealistic, but it’s where the conversation starts.
Lampert believes that we can get closer to such a reality by adopting new models where fewer musicians play per night for longer periods of time. He suggested one band could play for 3-4 hours instead of several bands playing short sets and venues could become more discerning in who they choose to book. He believes changes like this would induce a “culture of quality”. More so than an interesting possibility, this shows the canyon between where the Portland Musicians Union wants to take us and where we currently are. It makes the Fair Pay To Play campaign sound meritocratic, and like the current suggested pay scale, it’s also unrealistic. Bands play sets together to pool fans, and this cross-pollination is culturally fundamental.
If the Portland Musicians Union wants to make a real difference in how local musicians are paid, then it needs to work with small bands, new and small venues, and to concentrate on much smaller transaction amounts. These bands, venues, and transactions will grow. Another change the union should make to its strategy is to start reaching out to venues now and getting them involved in the conversation — accelerating toward a realistic perspective and making some allies in the process. Finally, the star system is concise but it begs the question of whether bands should be rated by a star system as well. That’s something that will need to be addressed eventually.
Despite how far the Portland Musicians Union has to go with the Fair Pay To Play campaign, all local musicians should be grateful to them for starting this conversation. According to Lampert, joining the union isn’t the only way to help; musicians can also volunteer and be part of the campaign steering committee. And the second most effective thing to supporting the cause financially is making sure all musicians in Portland know that the campaign exists.
Related Posts:
B Is for Beer- Tom Robbins to Read at Bagdad
3:16 pm by Lauren Hudgins
Portland and the NYT
May 11, 2009 10:39 pm by Lauren Hudgins
Bitch Media Hiring Executive Director
May 2, 2009 10:27 pm by Mike Burnett
Taste of the Nation Review
May 1, 2009 12:08 pm by Lauren Hudgins
I never thought I’d be having a sublime eating experience in a garage. Taste of the Nation is a national event raising money to end hunger. All proceeds from the event go to local organizations that distribute food to those in need. In Portland, Taste of the Nation was held in the show rooms (fancy garage) of the luxury car dealer, LUXE Autohaus.
Beautiful Bread from New Seasons
Tickets ranged from the premium LUXE at $200, which allowed entrance at 5pm, to general admission at $75, with entrance at 6:30pm. $125 is quite a difference for an hour and a half, but as soon as the floodgates opened at 6:30pm, it quickly became apparent why you would want to spend the extra money. By the time I worked my way into the larger food hall, some of the booths, including the intriguing Bay 13, had run out of food. Most booths still had food to be tasted, but not nearly as many options. I overheard a vendor (from Bay 13, I believe) say that last year they had leftovers. This year, they were out so quickly. One of the former organizers of Taste of the Nation complained that it was an issue of bad attitude. Many of the vendors devoted themselves entirely to the big donors to the point that the rest of us got ignored.
There was pleanty of asparagus soup from Wildwood.
I was disappointed that there were so many treats I did not get to sample. But I still gorged my way through the rows, despite being a vegetarian. Actually, that did frustrate me quite a bit. Most of the restaurants only wanted to show off their exciting meat delicacies, even restaurants that I know have a decent vegetarian selection. I know all you true omnivores think that meat is the yummiest and the best thing that a chef can showcase, but there are a lot of vegetarians, and even vegans, in Portland who want to support the welfare of the community while being rewarded with the tastiest food in the town. Thank you to all of the restaurants that offered vegetarian choices. Below is a list of my favorites. I implore you to frequent their establishments. My photographer, Megan Driscoll, sampled the meat dishes for me. I’ll give you some of her favorites as well.
Food
Vindalho- Absolutely swoonworthy chutneys. I melted into the garage floor with adulation.
Garden State- Saffron risotto balls with asparagus and mozzarella
Andina- Yellow potato cakes with garden vegetables and quinoa on top
Eleni’s Estiatorio / Philoxenia – Lahano Salata (a delightful cabbage salad)
Lots of places had delicious seasonal asparagus dishes, because some massive shipment of asparagus just came to Portland. There were too many to be tried.
Megan’s Meaty Picks
Fenouil- Salmon tartare with absinthe and crème fraiche
Noble Rot- Chicken liver terrine
Drinks
I wish I could tell you which wines I liked best but I tasted so many I lost track. I do recall the Oak Knoll Pinot Gris being marvelously fragrant and light.
Pepper Delicious Cocktail from Aviation Gin
My darling of the night was Aviation Gin. What an amazing presentation. Their sneaky Pepper Delicious cocktail with red bell peppers and mint was absolutely divine. I know it sounds more like a salad than a cocktail (then again, a Bloody Mary sounds more like compost) but trust me on this. If the red peppers are sweet and perfect… it’s going to be an unbelievable summer drink.
Me and MIXology
Later in the night, I got talked into going up on the MIX stage (ok, so I didn’t take much convincing) to learn how to make the “Best Drink” with more Aviation Gin from Kristin Strother of Saucebox.
Krystyn Strother showing me how to do it right
Megan got treated to Woodford Reserve Bourbon which she described as “alcoholic butter”.
Desserts
I didn’t get many desserts on account of being part of the mob and concentrating on dinner and drinks. But I will recommend the pecan blondies from Caprial’s Bistro and ginger cookies with pumpkin ice cream sandwiches from Ruby Jewel.
Hope your tongue has been properly tantalized.
Cool! Stiltwalkers!
All photos are by Megan Driscoll.
