Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Released in 1971, What's Going On was a game changer. Up until this record Marvin Gaye was a prolific hit maker for Motown Records. He had written or sung over 30 top 40 hits and was married to Motown Founder Berry Gordy's sister. However this was the first "political" record that Motown released, over Gordy's strong objections. It was very personal and introspective, as Gaye channeled his anger over poverty, racism and his objections to the Vietnam War. He was deeply influenced by his brother Frankie who was recently returned combat vet. Gaye was vindicated when the title track reached the number two spot in 1971, and both of the follow-ups, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," also reached the Top Ten. The album's success guaranteed Gaye continued artistic control over his work and helped loosen the reins for other Motown artists.

David Kennedy's Art Show

David Kennedy is one of the founders of Wieden+Kennedy and also one of my favorite people. He was a great art director in his day (he is in the hall of fame), but he is also a multi-talented artist. He has done a lot of amazing paintings and taken some great pictures over the years, but I guess his first love was metal work. He has a show opening tonight in the W+K lobby, and the work is beautiful. Several pieces are influenced by his love of Native American culture. If you have the chance, please drop by and take a look.

Red Coach

Any "best burger" in Portland discussion should include Red Coach. Located in the every more grimy looking Pioneer Place area off Broadway, this Portland mainstay delivers the goods. You want to order the Karl's Special - a cheeseburger, fries and a soda for $8.95. The burgers are old school, cooked on the grill and the fries are great.

Red Coach opened on 3rd and Alder in downtown Portland in 1958. The long-time owners retired last year and turned the operation over to their daughter, but there are still a lot of friendly people to take your order and the service is fast. I added an excellent strawberry shake to my order, my only gripe is that the large shake cost $6. If you like old school diners, you'll love the look here; lots of red leather booths. I think there are other things on the menu, but there is no need to depart from the Karl's .

Red Coach Restaurant
615 SW Broadway

Portland, OR

(503) 227-4840

Method Putter

Yesterday Nike Golf put 100 special edition Method putters on sale for $500. The putter comes in a really cool box and you can get your initials engraved on it as well. You also get to talk to a custom fitter to make sure you get the right length and lie. The putters sold out in two and a half hours. The rest of us can buy one for $200-$250 on February 1st, but you won't get the cool box and plaque.

Murata Restaurant

If you are looking for ambiance, Murata is not the place. It looks like most of the sushi bars I saw in Tokyo about 15 years ago. Clean, overly well lit and boring. But, if you are looking for good Japanese food this is the place. The sushi menu is short, but super authentic. The sushi chefs are really Japanese; Mr. Murata hardly speaks any English. The waitress is also Japanese and although she speaks good English, I am sure she would prefer if all the clientele were Japanese.

It is a little more expensive than the average sushi place, but I think it is worth it. It has often been voted the best Japanese restaurant in Portland, but it still flies under the radar due to the crappy location and the poor ambiance. However, the people who know, know. It was voted one of the best restaurants in town by other Portland chefs in Portland Monthly. We had not been there for years so it was great to see that the food was still top notch. We had the toro, spicy tuna roll, yellow tail, fresh salmon, scallop and fresh water eel. All the sushi was amazing, and we probably over ordered as the portions were a good size. The one disappointment was the seaweed salad, which had three kinds of seaweed, but not much taste. For a little taste of Tokyo, you should check out Murata, but be sure to make a reservation.

Murata Restaurant
200 SW Market St.

Portland, OR 97201

(503) 227-0080

The Cars - The Cars

With all due respect to Blondie and The Talking Heads, The Cars are the best new wave band ever (record sales will bear this out too). The group's self-named debut album came out in the summer of 1978 and is basically their greatest-hits record: "Just What I Needed" (number 27), "My Best Friend's Girl" (number 35), and "Good Times Roll" (number 41). The Cars stayed on the charts for over two and a half years, delaying the release of the group's second album, Candy-O by almost a year. Too bad no one buys albums any more, The Cars had some of the best cover art ever.

Awards Aplenty

I have never been one to get too excited about awards, but this has been a banner year for things I have worked on. Coraline won four Lions at Canne. Two for digital, one for promotion, and one for integrated campaign. I have to say this is the most integrated campaign I have ever worked on, so we deserved that one. We also won Best Multi Channel Interactive Digital Campaign from the Digital Movie Advertising Creative Showcase, which I have never heard of, but it got us some recognition in Variety Magazine.

The Book of Oregon book we made for Travel Oregon also won a Design Lion at Canne to go with the pencil we won at DA&D.