Hurricane Katrina

Unfortunately it seems to take an anniversary to bring attention back to big issues here in the US, and hurricane Katrina is no different. For the last two or three years we have not heard much from the media on the progress in New Orleans. After the Saints won the Super Bowl, it was like that took care of everything, redemption was given. However, a little scratching below the surface reveals that all is not right in the Crescent City and that there is still a lot of work to do.

There were a lot of news reports from New Orleans this week, but there are two shows that are must see:

Spike Lee has just put out a great follow up to his original documentary, When the Levees Broke, called, If God is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise. He revisits many of the people in the original film and also looks forward at how the BP oil spill could further hold back the recovery. This four hour epic may be a little too far reaching, but it is amazing who Lee got access to, most amazing was the interview with Michael "Brownie" Brown. To hear his side of the FEMA story alone was worth watching.

Some residents of New Orleans will be caring literal scars as well as the mental scars they endured during the flooding. No show brings this to life better than the August 25th edition of PBS's Frontline: Law and Disorder. Frontline, ProPublica and the New Orleans Times-Picayune investigate several questionable shootings by police in the days following Hurricane Katrina, raising new questions about the actions of some officers, and their command structure, during the aftermath of the storm. I walked away from this show thinking Governor Kathleen Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagan should be tried for murder, when they gave the order that looters could be shot.

Lucky

Ever dream of winning the lottery? You may change your opinion after you see the new HBO documentary, Lucky.

Director Jeffery Blitz of Spellbound fame, takes us around America meeting several "lucky" winners and discovering how the money changed their life. This film follows the lives of several big money winners and one hopeful. We meet Quang, a Vietnamese immigrant who won $22 million as part of a eight way contingent at work. James, a down and out man who spent his last $3 on a Powerball ticket and won $5 million. Kristine and Steve, a nice middle-class American couple who won $110 million. Robert, a math professor who despite knowing the odds, still plays and wins $22 million. Buddy, a local hero who won $16 million. And finally Verna, who spends up to $100 a day playing the lotto and after 30 years has still not had a big payday.

What is the one thing that holds these people together? At some point in the movie, despite many great things that the money has brought them, they all say, "I wish I had never won." Some people do better than others in the long run, but no one gets away without their life charging significantly. the saddest story is Buddy, who's family literally tries to kill him to get his money.

Bridge Up

In Portland we have 12 major bridges that get you from the west side of town over to the east side. Many of them are really beautiful, and a couple are kind of not. On any given day you can cross the bridge three or four times without thinking too much about it. Then of course there is the one time you are in a real hurry and the bridge is up causing traffic to come to a stand still. This is a small price to pay to have theses beautiful old bridges, but it is strange how it only happens when you are already late.

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Greenberg

In Greenberg, one of my, I'll watch any film he makes guys, Ben Stiller, takes on the role of Roger Greenberg, a 40-year-old man who has recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is now trying to "do nothing." He has returned to L.A., where he grew up to housesit for his rich brother, who is on a long vacation with his family in Vietnam. Greenberg meets his brother's assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), and begins a bizarrely awkward romance with her. He also reconnects with his old band mates, who are still bitter about a record deal that Roger ruined 15 years ago. Rhys Ifans, is a scene stealer, playing Ivan, Roger's best fiend who despite Roger being a complete a-hole, still goes out of his way to help him. While trying not to start a relationship with Florence, Roger also attempts to date Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a divorced old girlfriend, but she laughingly rejects him.

While Roger is housesitting, his brother's dog becomes sick, forcing Roger to take responsibility for his care, but it is pretty obvious Roger is barely able to take care of himself. He is very neurotic and does not recognize any flaws in himself. This reaches a comic climax when his niece returns to the house and throws a wild party.

Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart

You would think I would have learned by now that it is Terry Gross' job to make books sound good when she interviews the author on her show Fresh Air. As I was listening, I thought Super Sad True Love Story sounded a little too far fetched for me, but it did not stop me from picking it up at a recent trip to Powell's Books. I am glad I read it, but what others see as great satire, I thought was an author trying way too hard. The line between poignant and absurd is thin and I would rather stay in the side of poignant.

In Gary Shteyngart's futuristic New York, the dollar has been been replaced by the Chinese yuan as the currency of choice, American has been reduced to a one party police state that is always on high security alert, and people are constantly judged by their credit score and their hottness or f-ability rating. Lenny Abramov is the middle-aged protagonist with a good credit score, but an embarrassingly low Male Hotness rating. He has fallen in love with the very young Eunice Park, who's hottness score helps boost Lenny's just by standing next to him. Lenny works for the Post-Human Services division of the Staatling-Wapachung Corporation, selling people eternal life, and while he would also like to live for ever, his love for Eunice takes over his ambitions. Just as Lenny seems to be getting things together the US experiences a "rupture" and is taken over by the world's economic powers and split up Berlin style post WW II.

As I said earlier, the book is funny, but Shteyngart takes everything to the extreme. A little more subtlety would have made this book much more readable.

Montavilla farmers market

As you all know Portland is famous for all the great farmers markets we have across the city and our neighborhood is no exception. The Montavilla farmers market is in the 7600 block of SE Stark between Mt. Tabor and 82nd street and is open on Sundays from 10-2, June 15th - October 31st. They have a great mix of produce, fruit, cheeses, flowers, etc. and ready to eat food. My two favorites are Wild Wild West BBQ and the Liquid Sunshine Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade stand. The guy at the BBQ stand is a little forgetful so you may have to tell him your order a few times, but it is worth the wait. The BBQ ribs at $8, are great and there are two equally good sandwiches, the shredded beef or pulled pork for $5. He also has sides and a few other BBQ specials as well as a hamburger that I have not tried yet. The lemonade stand has classic hand squeezed lemonade, limeade, strawberry lemonade and usually a couple of guest flavors, today it was mohito and last week it was jalapeno. The guy who runs it is also very friendly. There are a few other ready to eat places, including Hacienda which makes great tamales and Kebab-a-Rama that I have not tried. There is plenty of seating and sometimes there is live music.

After you eat lunch, you can get all the fruit and veggies you'll need for the week as well as some fresh flowers. Next Saturday there is a special event, the 3rd Annual Harvest Dinner. The Dinner is a five-course meal with matching paired wines and will begin at 5:30 pm. Tickets for the dinner are sixty dollars. All proceeds go to benefit the Montavilla Farmers Market’s efforts to improve food access and affordability in the Montavilla neighborhood.

Cheese Bar

Formally known as Steve's Cheese, Steve Jones has moved his cheese mecca to Mt. Tabor and renamed it Cheese Bar. Best news of all it is only a 10 minute walk there from our house. I thought it was just a sandwich place, but there is a lot more. They have a retail counter where you can buy all kinds of cheeses and meats, as well as fancy chocolate, vinegars, and other gourmet items. They have a half dozen tables inside as well as a few outside where you can order super delicious cheese and meat plates, as well as great sandwiches, soup, salads and on the day we were there a very nice blueberry bread pudding (make sure you add the sheepshead cheese). To top it all off they have a small bar with six local beers on tap, as well as a long list of bottled beers and wines.

This place should do well as the food is great and the staff is really nice, and if you love cheese you'll love talking to the owner Steve, he is quite the expert.

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 11AM - 11 PM, Closed Monday

Cheese Bar

6031 SE Belmont Street
Portland, OR
(503) 222-6014

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott

As the last book in the, 25 books you should read, I am going to give you an easy one. Easy as in you should be able to read this one sitting, but you'll really enjoy it and get a lot out of it. Here is a quick synopsis Of Flatland from the publisher:

The story is about a two-dimensional world referred to as Flatland which is occupied by geometric figures, line-segments (females) and regular polygons with various numbers of sides. The narrator is a humble Square, a member of the social caste of gentlemen and professionals in a society of geometric figures, who guides us through some of the implications of life in two dimensions. The square has a dream about a visit to a one-dimensional world (Lineland) which is inhabited by "lustrous points." He attempts to convince the realm's ignorant monarch of a second dimension but finds that it is essentially impossible to make him see outside of his eternally straight line.

The narrator is then visited by a three-dimensional sphere, which he cannot comprehend until he sees Spaceland for himself. This sphere, who remains nameless, visits Flatland at the turn of each millennium to introduce a new apostle to the idea of a third dimension in the hopes of eventually educating the population of Flatland of the existence of Spaceland. From the safety of Spaceland, they are able to observe the leaders of Flatland secretly acknowledging the existence of the sphere and prescribing the silencing of anyone found preaching the truth of Spaceland and the third dimension. After this proclamation is made, many witnesses are massacred or imprisoned (according to caste).

The book is a satirical look at Victorian culture, but it is as relevent today as it was then. Another great factoid about this book, Albert Einstien used to read it every year.

If Muslims had Christmas

If Muslims had Christmas, this guy would be a great Santa Claus.

2010 PGA Championship

Usually the PGA Championship is the least interesting major of the year, but this year's tournament turned out to be the best of the year. As is becoming a standard story, there was an old guy making a resurgence. Forty seven year-old Steve Elkington, who had not won on tour in over ten years and last won a major in 1995, was in it until the last few holes when a near perfect shot at the difficult par 3 17th hole took one bounce too many and trickled down an embankment taking him out of contention. On the other end of the age spectrum, 21 year-old Rory McIlroy ended up tied for third, but he missed so many close putts it was heartbreaking.

Speaking of heartbreaking, this tournament will not be remembered for the great playoff where Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson, but the sand bunker debacle. Dustin Johnson was making a great push to the top of the leader-board and had a one stroke lead going into 18. When he pushed his drive out to the right, I started to think back to his complete collapse at the US Open this year, when he shot an 82 on Sunday to blow a big lead. In this case it was not Johnson's swing that let him down, he hit a mediocre shot out of the rough, chipped it close and missed a seven foot put that got him into the playoff. Only it didn't. As he was walking off the course a PGA official pointed out that his second shot was not out of a waste area, but a bunker. Johnson had grounded his club in that bunker and it cost him a two stroke penalty and his place in the playoff. The tragedy is that the PGA had clearly posted a local rule that all bunkers, no matter where they are, in this case outside the ropes where the spectators had been standing, where still to be played as bunkers and Johnson had not read the rule, nor had his caddy. It was a mistake of monumental proportions, and I am sure it will be written about for years. I only hope Johnson has another comeback in him.

14th Annual PDX Adult Soapbox Derby

It is officially called the 14th Annual PDX Adult Soapbox Derby, but for those of us that live on Mt. Tabor, it is the day the crazies take over the park. Every year it gets bigger and bigger, and unfortunately this has lead to the implementation of several new safety rules that have cut down on the excitement. Like NASCAR, the only reason to watch the Soapbox Derby is for the wrecks. In the old days, you'd see young guys pushing what is left of their soapbox racer back to their car, with a weeping road rash up an down one side of their bodies. It is still a lot of fun, but now it is more of a family event with structured races and new rules like, "Audience members will not be allowed to throw water balloons, or otherwise interfere with racers."

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

It is amazing to me that Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, was written in the late 1940's and won him the National Book Award in 1953. When I read it, I assumed it was written in the 1960's at the begining of the Black power movement. This book was way ahead of it's time, but seems to have been well received when it was first published. The unnamed narrarator is an African American man who sees himself as invisable to the white world. As a young man he witnesses harsh brutality towards blacks and his seniors contuinually selling-out to conform to white expectations. After college he moves to New York and becomes part of a militant group called the Brotherhood, which at first seems like a good thing, but takes several bad turns, leading the narrarator to long for invisibilty.

Ellison lived until 1994, but his second novel Juneteenth was not published until five years after his death.

Piazza Italia

Last night I ate at one of my favorite places in the Pearl, that I realized I have never reviewed, so better late than never, dinner at Piazza Italia. The restaurant is in a small store front that you could easily pass by, except in the summer when they have some outside seating. Apart from the great food, the main draw is how over-the-top Italian the staff are. They all have strong accents, and the owner is liable to break out into song at any moment. I often suspect that at closing time, they all sit around chatting in non-discript Pacific Northwest accents. They also have soccer on the TV at all hours and Italian flags and scarfs draped around to make sure there is no mistake who they were supporting in the World Cup.


Back to the food. They mainstays here are the simple pasta dishes, they are numerous and the trick is to find a combination you like and go for it. The salads and the minestrone soup are a great way to get started, and if you have a crowd you should order some antipasto. Also leave room for desert, the tiramisu is excellent, and plan to linger a while over an espresso. This is the most authentic Italian restaurant we have in Portland, I think.

Mon-Sat 12-10pm, Sun 12-8pm


Piazza Italia
1129 NW Johnson St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-478-0619

Life During Wartime

Life During Wartime, a film by Todd Solondz, is a sequel to his 1998 film Happiness, although the characters are all played by different actors. This may have been off-putting if I had seen Happiness, but I had not, which if Life During Wartime is an indication, I am glad I didn't.

This is one of those films where we drop in on some people's lives for a moment with no reason why and no explanation of why we suddenly leave. The plot revolves around three sisters Trish (Allison Janney), Joy (Shirley Henderson), and Helen (Ally Sheedy), all of whom are totally screwed up. Trish has three kids, who she over-shares with, except for telling them their father is not really dead but in jail for molesting a child. Joy is married to an ex-con, who is struggling to change his ways, but also visited by a dead former boyfriend who has committed suicide. Although we only meet Helen for a short time, she seems to be the worst of all. She is a raging bitch and possibly the most self-absorbed person ever, it only takes a few seconds to start disliking her. Full minutes pass before we start disliking other characters in this movie, but eventually they all prove to be unlikable or worse uninteresting.

I would very much like to have the hour and a half I spent watching this movie back.

A German Requiem by Philip Kerr

A German Requiem is the final novel in the Bernie Gunther mystery trilogy "Berlin Noir" by Philip Kerr. The three books were published from 1989 to 1991 and the author makes major strides in each book. In A German Requiem, it is 1947 and we find detective Bernie Gunther married and living in Berlin with his new wife, Kristen. Things are not going too well, as he suspects she is having sex with occupying American officers in exchanges for scarce supplies. Berlin is a mess, with people surviving on whatever they can make on the black market, or through prostitution, and the biggest concern is staying out of the way of the Russians.

Gunther is still making a living as a PI, barely, when he gets a case in Vienna investigating the arrest and imprisonment of an old police colleague, Becker, who was a corrupt cop, a ruthless SS man, and is now a smuggler who has been accused of murder. Becker has called on Gunther to help get him out of jail, but there are a hundred plot twists that come our way before that case is resolved. Turns out almost every Nazi except Hitler has faked his death and made their way to Vienna, and most of them are now spying on the Russians for the U.S. army. Gunther not only has to deal with them, but there is a Russian trying to kill him at almost every turn.

Once again Kerr gets our heads spinning with one plot twist after another, but, as in his other novels, it is history that is the most intriguing aspect of this book. Kerr paints an amazingly clear picture of the difficulty of life after the war. While they were defeated, the German people suffered for many years after the war was over, and some might say it was not over until the Berlin wall finally fell. The Russians are a brutal enemy and we can see Kerr begin to paint the path for Gunther to engage in the Cold War.

My Brother's Crawfish - 2010

We first visited My Brother's Crawfish in July of 2008 when it had just opened. The good news is that it is still going strong and the food is as good as ever. We ordered a side of Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and a side of Crawfish Etoufee with some cornbread to get warmed up, and I had a fried shrimp po'boy as my entree. Everything we got was delicious, all I could have wished for was a larger group of people, so we could have sampled more of the entree choices. A couple of things to remind you of, one, the restaurant is in a crappy strip mall and does not look good from the outside. Two, the food is prepared by Vietnamese folks, not Louisiana natives. Neither of these things should deter, as the staff could not be nicer and apart from putting oregano in the crawfish boil, these guys know what they are doing.

They are open at 11:30 AM for lunch, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday, otherwise get dinner from 3- 10 PM. Go with a big crowd, order deep on the menu and enjoy a few Abita Amber beers.

My Brother's Crawfish
8220 SE Harrison St
Portland, OR 97216
(503) 774-3786

The Other Guys

The Other Guys is the latest comedy starring Will Ferrell and as a huge fan, it pains me to say that this is not a great movie. I think part of the problem is that we expect a lot more these days when we make the effort to go to the theater, and this was a film I would have been happy to see on my own couch, but not happy to pay $20 plus the same again for popcorn and a soda. It starts with one of the most amazing over the top car chases featuring Samuel L. Jackson and the Rock, which made me wonder if I had walked into the wrong theater. Turns out they are only around for a short time and the rest of the movie has a cast of idiots trying to replace their "super cop" exploits. I may be giving this film too much credit, but I think it's supposed to be a farce, in the vein of the Pink Panther movies. Everyone is way over the top and too stupid or too out of it to make sense. Will Ferrell's character is a total looser, but he is married to the "plain" Eva Mendes, could be funny, but it's not. Even worse is Mark Wahlberg, as the one dimensional partner to Farrell. He is playing a dumber, more over-the-top version of many of his other cop characters and it's sad.

Writer/director Adam McKay has written a lot of funny stuff for SNL and Funny or Die, but this full length feature does not live up to Anchorman or Talladega Nights. Just because you have Will Ferrell in a movie doesn't mean you can call it in.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I was re-reading Lolita on an airplane a few years ago and an older lady leaned over and asked, "is that book still as controversial today as it was when it came out?" I told her that I was not alive in 1955, but that it was considered too racy to include in my high school English class in 1983 and I still felt like the subject matter was as taboo today as ever. Seducing an underage girl and abducting her after her mother dies is, thankfully, still thought to be reprehensible in 2010, unless, of course, you are Roman Polanski. While the narrator and rapist Humbert Humbert is a despicable person, his character still captivates us with humor and his admissions that what he is doing is wrong, offsetting the tragic plot. If it were not for this, the book would be unreadable instead of the classic it is today.

New Roof

We had to break down and get a new roof on the house this year. We were hoping to make it through another winter, but we had a leak in the living room ceiling, so it was time. I got several bids, but I knew for sure I wanted to get a white roof to help reduce the heat in the house. The black torch-down roof we used to have generated a lot of heat, and the house could get up in the 90s in the late afternoon on a hot day. As soon as the old roof was taken off we saw an immediate 10-15 degree drop in temperature when we got home from work. The hard part of dealing with a flat roof is keeping it clean so the down spouts don't clog. The roofers did a great job of slanting the roof towards the front edges and taking off the lip so more water flows directly into the gutter. We also got a life-time guarantee on the roofing material which is a much better deal than the other folks were offering.

National Night Out

Last night we had a neighborhood get-together in honor of National Night Out. The idea is to meet your neighbors and talk about crime prevention in your neighborhood; if you register a police officer will come out to talk to you about things you can do to be safer, etc. Unfortunately we didn't think to register, but we did have a good time talking to some of the neighbors we knew and meeting some new ones for the first time. We had lots of food and drinks, we set up a few tables for people to mingle, and had some stuff for the kids to play with. I even pulled out the old Weber BBQ and grilled up some dogs and sausage. It was a fun night and I am glad to say, we have some really great neighbors.

Reo's Ribs

We had a belated birthday work lunch today at Reo's Ribs. These guys used to be out in Aloha about 10 miles from town, but they have recently moved to a nice storefront down on Mcadam, where their smoker has been making some enemies with the neighbors who don't like everything they own to smell like smoked brisket. They are also famous for being owned by Snoop Dogg's uncle.

Neither of these two things should stop you from going, as the food is fantastic. I got the lunch brisket plate and a side of slaw and I was full about half way through (but I didn't stop eating). We also tried the beef ribs, the pulled pork sandwich, grilled chicken, and the pork roast and all were deemed excellent. They have some great sides if you want to venture beyond the standard slaw and potato salad; there is yams, red beans and rice, gumbo, collard greens, fried okra, and hush puppies. And the best deal of all, for $1 extra you get a huge, buttery piece of corn bread. I am not a fan but they have sweet and regular tea, so people from Alabama and Texas will be happy.

Open everyday from 11 AM to 9 PM.

Reo's Ribs
6141 SW Macadam Ave
Portland OR

(503) 244-4195

Tracey Thorn - Love And Its Opposite

Tracey Thorn is one half of one of my favorite bands, Everything but the Girl. With her husband Ben Watt, they transitioned from a hip '80's jazz-pop band to dance floor '00's electronica. Along the way they have taken a couple of hiatus and both released solo records. In her third and latest solo effort, Thorn has created an amazingly raw and age appropriate record. I have to say, I was taken aback the first time I listened to it; it's like seeing Meg Ryan playing a forty-year-old versus clinging to her adolescence. Two songs in particular stand out to me "Oh, the Divorces!" and "Singles Bar," they both speak to real life problems - the kid exchange and the hours of getting ready to hide your age for a night out on the town. "Hormones," is another eye opener that chronicles the arguments between a mother and daughter. This is an amazing record; as well as writing great songs, Thorn should get credit for her bravery - middle age is a tough place for an artist to go.