Last night, the Bus Project sponsored a debate between the candidates for the Zone 4 School Board seat. This election is on May 17th, so it’s well past time to figure out who I’m voting for.

I knew nothing about the candidates going in; I didn’t even know which Zone was number 4! (Turns out it’s North Portland.) But I came out of the debate with a favorite candidate and a far better concept of what issues are facing Portland schools.

There are more debates coming up, so go learn about these guys. Dan Ryan, one of the Zone 4 candidates has a list of upcoming debates on his site.

And I still don’t know anything about the other zones. If you do, fill us in with a comment.

So- the breathlessly anticipated 2005 version of Diner has hit the streets (online version here, but I’d pick up the real thing if I were you.)

They’ve adroitly sidestepped last year’s controversy by naming a restaurant – Andina – as restaurant of the year that’s actually been open all 12 months (as contrasted to last year’s winner, clarklewis, only open for a few months when Diner 2004 was published.) That controversy’s subtly acknowledged this year – if you’re a careful or attentive reader, that is – by noting the placement the Ripe empire’s newest venture, Gotham Bldg Tavern, in the ‘Just Opened’ sidebar.

They also didn’t commit the Merc’s faux pasa a month or so ago by publishing a Gotham Bldg review worded in present tense – whoops, what do you mean the place hasn’t actually opened yet? (and no, we weren’t the only ones to notice.)

And the Trib? I’d dismissed most of their breathily-overwrought reviews for the most part – until hearing that Audrey Van Buskirk (ex-WWeek and noted NW food writer) was there to overhaul the joint. It’ll be interesting to see what she does…their recent food supplement – entree shows promise (and their online version beats out Diner’s version by a hair – which, granted, isn’t hard to do, and is no reflection on The O or Diner folks…)

Lest you think I’m not even-handed in my pickiness, let’s not leave Willamette Week out. I love FoodFinder, and enjoy their reviews (depending on who’s writing them) – but since it’s not in their site navigation or referenced in most pages, you’ll have to forage around to find it on your own (unless you bookmark the handy link I’ve just provided above.)

All in all, I end up going back to Diner and WWeek for my restaurant reviews for the most part, sprinkled with some searches/browsing through Chowhound’s PacNW message board (warning: it’s pretty time-intensive.) But my favorite local daily read for all things food and dining-related? Nick Zukin’s extramsg.com…load it in your RSS reader and see if you don’t agree.

What do you think of The O’s choices this year (I’ll be reading the rest of Diner tonight over a glass or two of wine, so I can’t weigh in yet…)? Any other glaring omissions, or obvious favorites? And – where do you go for reviews you trust?

This advice is for tourists who come to Portland, the “City That Doesn’t Really Work”, home of Paul Allen’s only bad investment.

If you see some some blind person dragging their poor dog down the street while the dog is trying to take a poot and you feel the urge to kick the dog, don’t. That would be inhumane. Instead, kick the blind person. That would be the humane thing to do.

And while you’re here, don’t forget to gamble. You’ll lose, but we need the money for schools. Ordinarily we would finance our schools with some sort of stable revenue plan but, hey, this is, after all, Oregon. You know, the state with the Big O and the legislature that never says, “I believe we’ve finally solved a situation,” but instead says,”………..deal? You mean deal???….like in poker…right? That’s a great idea. I wonder if the tourists will go for even more gambling. Just think, if only we could become the Las Vegas of the hicks, then we could have the fanciest schools you can imagine.”

I don’t see what’s so special about Wordstock.

Being an author myself (seven books) I love it when authors get speaking and book-signing opportunities. But we have authors here all the time.

So why pay overpriced fees and drive around town to various places and try to find overpriced parking spots to see author readings? A well-planned month of attendance at Powell’s readings and signings should be enough of a fix for even the most ardently word-hungry.

Now if Wordstock were something more like a festival, or a one locale,two-day equivalent of a poetry slam, then yea, count me in.

I know what you are thinking. Isn’t the two-day Book Fair even at the Convention Center this weekend kind of like a poetry slam – only books?

No way. Two hundred authors on 11 stages in two days. That’s not literature as a public event. It’s a freaking autograph carnival in a crowded place.

How to show real respect for the book as an art form, and for the author as an artist? Not by seeing as many of them as you can on a hectic April Saturday. I think a more respectful path wuld be going to Powell’s Burnside, getting there early, sitting your butt down and wait for the one author on that evening’s menu to read his or her art to you. To listen, not to crowd.

And better yet, to curl up in front of a fire, with a glass of your favorite libation and in contemplative quiet (and I mean quiet) read what it took them years to write.

OK, two caveats.

First, I learned a long time ago that we should respect the newly departed.

Second, I am aware that making Beavis & Butthead jokes based on someone’s name is quite juvenile. Heck, a woman I used to date broke up with me right after we went and saw “South Park” (the movie,not the restaurant).

But still, did you see the name of the man who was the subject of the lead obit in today’s Oregonian?

Here.

I like libraries. I like hanging out in the men’s bathroom smoking cigarettes…oh…wait a minute…that’s high schools.

Ok, I like hanging out in libraries because libraries have…hmmm…cute chicks…no, that’s not it…there’s gotta be something in libraries. Oh yeah, books. Lot’s of books.

And now libraries have computers, databases, DVD’s and all sorts of stuff.

The Beaverton library not only has books but it also has computers connected to the internet. A couple of weeks ago I went with my eldest teenage daughter to get some books at the Beaverton library. While my daughter was moseying through the aisles, I went to use one of the computers but they were down. By the time my daughter and I left the computers had come back up and there was a waiting list of people.

Libraries need more computers.

The Beaverton library belongs to a consortium of other monopolistic libraries in Washington County. This consortium is called Washington County Cooperative Library Services.

Through modern technology that breaks down only every once in a while, all libraries in Washington County are connected to every other library and all the databases are connected to all the other databases.

Almost everything you can do in one of the libraries you can now do online except, of course, when it comes to smoking in the bathrooms.

The libraries in Washington County pool their resources in such a way that a person can get almost any book they want.

I remember once I went to one of the libraries to get a best seller. Once I got there I went to one of the people working there and asked, “Do you have the best selling book “How to Pick Up Chicks in Mongolia?”

Much to my astonishment, the person began throwing books at me and then chased me out of the library. I figured the person was just having a bad day. Maybe the computers were down again. I’m sure, though, that they have that book.

The one thing all libraries, except for the library in the Vatican, need is more computers connected to the internet.

Just stopping by during a long day which just keeps on going.

And, in keeping with my niche, I ask you to tell me about your votes for Portland’s best/worst sushi.

My votes for best:
(more…)

A Beaverton resident, Robert A. Hansen, submitted a letter to the editor of the NY Times Sunday Magazine section in response to their cover story dated 17 April 2005, “Toward an Unregulated America”. His letter was accepted and will be published in the May 1 issue with, of course, the necessary editing to ensure brevity and clarity.

The following is the letter.

To the Editor:

In his article “Towards an Unregulated America”, Jeffrey Rosen asserts
that libertarians are attempting to use the courts to win victories they
can’t win at the ballot box. In case he didn’t notice last November,
voters in Oregon overwhelmingly passed Ballot Measure 37, which
specified that an owner of private real property is entitled to receive
just compensation from the government when a land use regulation is
enacted, if the regulation restricts the use of the property and reduces
its fair market value. The government jurisdiction in question has the
option to pay the owner an amount equal to the reduction in value, or
they can choose to waive or change the regulation(s) in question.

We won fair and square at the ballot box. If such a measure can pass
here in Oregon, then there’s hope everywhere. Our time is coming.

Robert Hansen

While I like the idea of measure 37, I voted against measure 37 for reasons you can read about here.

The Big O has a series of reports concerning measure 37.

I dislike linking to the Big O because of link rot. Once something is in the archives, it’s lost forever.

Why is it that I only ever see Disturbing Police Action in Chinatown? Seriously, it’s starting to bug me. I didn’t whip out the digi and start snapping pics, so I can’ link everyone to what I saw today (or even prove that I’m not just pulling this out of my ass), but it’s gotten to the point that simply wandering around down there will expose me to the arrest and or questioning of more than three men.
The really disturbing thing? Nine times out of ten, it’s two white cops questioning a black man. Today it was two white cops who pull up to this black man standing on the corner of 5th and Couch, and whip out the cuffs and freaking arrest him right there.

I’m actually ashamed that I didn’t pull out my camera and start taking pictures. I really should have. I should have walked the fifteen feet over and asked them why they were arresting him. But I didn’t. All I can do is say that I see a pattern (and have for at least a year) of harassment in Chinatown and the somewhat burgeoning 3 blocks south of Burnside and ±3 blocks of 3rd.

I tell ya, I’m disturbed.

That’s right. My school is hosting the diversity conference.

Now, I’d make some sort of comment about how all the curly lettering is “fuckin’ gey, man” but I’m afraid the irony would pass right over your head.