Describe The Ruckus

After a year of guilty pleasure I'm finally caught up in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice And Fire fantasy series, which leaves me in the same boat as millions of other nerds, anxiously awaiting the 5th 1000-page tome. I walked by Martin's 4-shelf section in Powell's over the weekend, where a clerk had placed an info card declaring that anyone who was just now getting into the series was...

Last night I sat at The Alibi drinking a Spanish coffee and talking to a contractor who recently closed his $1.4 million a year business because he was only able to pay himself about $45,000 a year. He blamed this on OSHA audits, matching his employees' tax withholdings, and being undercut by illegal immigrants who are increasingly becoming contractors themselves. He said he made the decision to...

Just when I thought Corporate America couldn't be more strange or offensive, along came this new ad campaign from Wendy's to remind me of how absurd things are. My favorite thing about it is their bizarre technique of making their food look very, very disgusting. Enjoy! In case you're curious, here's what it looks like before the Wendy's box pops up. (This is an ad they're running on MySpace)....

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What I would do this week if I weren't doing mad preparations for Burning Man: Monsters of Accordion! Jason Webley, mad Jesus of the Accordion, is bringing all of this creepy and kooky friends to Portland this Thursday, August 21st at the Kennedy School. For those of you who are unaware of Seattle musician, Jason Webley, I recommend fixing that fast! He's got a bit of a cult following here in the...

If you’re headed to the Oregon Zoo between now and September 2nd, save your cash on the dinosaur exhibit. It costs $4 in addition to the regular zoo admission to catch a glimpse of animatronics gone horribly wrong. Cheap plastic toys that you can buy in the mall seem more realistic, even if they don’t move on their own (and some of them surely do). Not all of the dinosaurs move, and...

James Brittain-Gore is a gifted musician and a dear friend of mine. I slept on his floor for a month or two before I split from Fresno, and even though he occasionally woke me up playing records, I will stake my reputation on what a talented songwriter he is. At 23, James has just released a self-titled record produced in a Fresno studio where he also rents a living space. From the bits I've...