When I'm in the mood for Chinese, I usually tend towards Hong Kong Restaurant. Not only is it the first place I happened upon when I moved to town, but since Chinese dining rooms are not known for their atmosphere, I've always been too taken with the backdoor charm of the adjacent Bamboo Room to explore anywhere else.
Tried and True: Chan's slow and steady approach wins the race
Posted inFood & Drink
Tried and True: Chan's slow and steady approach wins the race
When I'm in the mood for Chinese, I usually tend towards Hong Kong Restaurant. Not only is it the first place I happened upon when I moved to town, but since Chinese dining rooms are not known for their atmosphere, I've always been too taken with the backdoor charm of the adjacent Bamboo Room to explore anywhere else.
Posted inMusic
CD Review – The Minus 5: Killingsworth
The Minus 5
Killingsworth
Yep Roc Records
Portland's Minus 5 arrives in style with, Killingsworth, a Gypsy caravan of acoustic folk songs woven through with softly ethereal, downtrodden voices. Most of the tunes are downers to the point of absurdity, but absurdity hardly indicates a lack of artistic worth.
Posted inMusic
Business is Good: The not-so accidental rise of Moonalice
Almost nothing about Roger McNamee's band, Moonalice, is conventional.
For starters, McNamee isn't your typical rock star – by any means. The guy is a massively successful businessman, holding degrees from Yale and Dartmouth and founding a private equity group, Elevation Partners, that includes a team of high-flying names like, for example, Bono. Also, the fledgling act really isn't a fledgling act. Moonalice is essentially the Traveling Wilburys of the jam and blues rock world combined with a dude (and his wife) who really wants to be (and can be) in a killer band. With an album produced by roots rock heavyweight T-Bone Burnett and a lineup including people like G.E. Smith (as in G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band) and Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Rod Stewart), Moonalice is playing clubs and bars throughout the country as McNamee attempts to reinvent rock and roll protocol.
Posted inCulture
Talent In Bloom: 2nd Street's bubbling cast brings life to Steel Magnolias
Full disclosure, this review is based on my experience sitting through a rehearsal performance of 2nd Street Theatre's Steel Magnolias, when there was still a whole week to go before the play was set to open, where a photographer buzzed around on stage for the first half an hour of the show, chasing the actors like persistent flies at a BBQ, and there was still ongoing discussion about how to hang the set curtains. Yet based on said performance I believe the audience at the play's opening night, and every night thereafter, are in for a treat to rival any of the desserts at Truvy's beauty parlor.
Posted inCulture
Our Picks for the Week of 8/19-8/27
Moonalicefriday 21See this week's preview for more on this all-star rocking tribe of jammers and their fearless Chubby Wombat leader. $10.
Posted inNews
Tonight and Tomorrow in Music…Teddy Presberg and Alpaca!
If you’re looking for something to do out on the town tonight, the Silver Moon is probably your best bet with the crazily weird jazz stylings of Teddy Presberg. The St.
Posted inNews
The Downtowner Move
Most regular customers of the popular Brooks St. deli have already heard that it’s moving lock, soup stock and beer barrel over to its sister operation at the Summit.
Posted inNews
Salem Revolving Door Spins Again
Quick pseudo update on the story from last Friday about questions around Democratic state representative Larry Galizio’s appointment/hire to high level Oregon Universtity system job on the recommendation of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s staff — after Galizio provided the key, swing-vote on the Metolius Basin resort ban.
Posted inNews
Biscuits and Beatdowns: A neurotic's quest for Best of Show at the Deschutes County Fair
“This is great! This is everybody's dream,” said Linda Scott, first-time baked goods judge at the 2009 Deschutes County Fair.
From 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. the day before the fair kicked off this year, Linda tasted every single entry in the senior and adult categories. Linda's parents ran Gibb's Bakery in Redmond for 45 years, so the woman knows her way around a pie or two. In five hours she sampled nut pies and divinity, cakes and fudge, enough chocolate cookies to satiate the most vicious bout of PMS.
Sitting across the table from her, I lost count after the first dozen yeast rolls and cheese muffins, and a white-blonde confection straight from a retro Betty Crocker cookbook, gleaming under the florescence like a '50s pin-up queen.