http://www.wweek.com/portland/ Each week our culture scientists rank their 10 favorite things in the universe. The resulting list is infallible. The list is perfect. If you don't agree with the list, you are wrong. Some items may stay atop the list for weeks, others may only make a bri]]> WW's weekly round-up of the nerdy events happening around Portland over the next seven days:Monday, May 21History Pub: Finding David DouglasAn hour-long documentary by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission about the Scottish botanist David Douglas, who ]]> Moppets in motion. According to one expert in First Position, the keys to making it in the cutthroat world of ballet are “body, training, passion, personality.” Freshman director Bess Kargman manages to find s]]> Is it legal for election authorities to disclose who has voted and who has not? Recently, I was unnerved that a canvasser who called my house seemed to know that my roommate hadn’t voted yet. Is it legal for election authorities in Oregon to disclose to individual campaigns]]> Love Strong (Self-Released) [HOMETOWN R&B] Arjay lives, like many urban singers of his generation, at the intersection of hip-hop and R&B. If you know his name, it’s probably from the former: The Portland staple ha]]> Darker Days Ahead (Self-Released) [CRUST PUNK] Tragedy is justly revered the world over for its dense and crepuscular take on crust punk, but an album-length masterpiece has eluded this staunchly DIY Portland quartet since its 2]]> Not this time a great book. Sometimes a Great Movie: Paul Newman, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel (Nestucca Spit Press, 158 pages, $30) is a failure. Harsh words, but its author might agree. Matt Love, a ]]> Hang up and look! “Live in fragments no longer,” E.M. Forster urged in Howards End. “Only connect.” Today, 102 years after the novel was published, we increasingly connect by tweeting, streaming and texti]]> William Helfrich tries to untangle his past and makes his best album in the process. [SINGER-SONGWRITER] William Helfrich woke up one morning a few years ago and realized he was a grown-up. It was something none of his previous life experiences—not going to college, not holding ]]> Guantanamo Baywatch mines the dirty intersection of surf rock and punk. Chevelle Wiseman had never played bass when she agreed to be the bassist for Guantanamo Baywatch, a handicap she overcame by... ]]>  In 1965, a young upstart arrived in Oregon “with 3,000 grape cuttings and a theory.” As the story goes...]]> Under the watchful eyes of Abraham Lincoln in two slightly creepy paintings on the walls of Free House (1325 NE Fremont St., 946-8161), a dozen or so drinkers maintain a vibe of laid-back camaraderi]]> The life of a veteran Oregon wine dog. Before people buy your wine, they want to pet your dog. Alex Sokol Blosser has accepted this. “I don’t know why—it’s gotta be that when you go to a farm, you expect to see a dog,” he s]]> We had wine on our minds. Then we got a little hungry, so we staged a raid on the cheese case at Irvington’s Foster & Dobbs specialty foods store. What should you pair with an Oregon pinot]]> Celebrating Portland’s master of grotesque. Even in a town known for incubating distinctive animation talents, Portland-born Bill Plympton is special. Not only is he one of the most iconic animators currently working—his work is recogniza]]> Will Smith sequels more necessary than Men in Black III. Something is terribly wrong with the world when we’re getting a third Men in Black movie and still don’t know what happened after...]]> Big names—and money—behind university reform. Some powerful interests want to light a fire under lawmakers who are considering giving the seven campuses of the Oregon University System more autonomy. As first reported at wweek.com, five men, incl]]> Gossip reconsidering plans for our IPO. CZECH, PLEASE: When Enzo Lanzadoro, owner of Enzo’s Caffe Italiano on Northeast Alberta Street, heads back to Italy on vacation this weekend, his restaurant will go with him. For three weeks, ]]> Portland’s mayoral primary had something to teach everyone about Rose City politics. Fresh off his May 15 primary victory, mayoral candidate Charlie Hales fired most of his staff last week. As a gesture of...]]> The state’s biggest teachers union believes in seniority— just not for its own employees. Becky Corkill got laid off May 15.  Corkill, 53, works for the Oregon Education Association, the state’s biggest teachers union. She drove from her Klamath Falls home to the OEA’s Portl]]> A federal judge may decide if Oswego Lake is open to the public. A lawsuit filed this morning in U....]]> Paul Fussell was a great writer and scholar and, in the three years before his death yesterday, an O...]]> The scene at the farmers market starts long before the crowds show up.On a sunny Wednesday morning...]]> Today marks the beginning of the Know’s stacked Memorial Week series, which will find Portland’s...]]> In another sign of the difficult financial realities for print newspapers, the New Orleans Times-Pic...]]> [DANCE PARTY] Starfucker's special Record Store Day release, Heaven's Children, was largely stripped down enough to make longtime fans of the band a little sentimental for the old days, when you could catch Josh Hodges' instrumental one-man band in your n]]> How to shop at a modern American supermarket: Stick to the edges of the store—the produce, dairy, bulk dry goods and meat and fish departments. That’s where you’ll find whole foods with lo]]> We review new local albums to see who’s keeping Portland the weirdest. Plankton Wat, Spirits (Thrill Jockey) Weirdness scale: 5/10 What kind of weird: Watching the slow-motion moments in a David Lynch film on repeat weird. It would appear that the men of Eternal Tap]]> We had wine on our minds. Then we got a little hungry, so we staged a raid on the cheese case at Irvington’s Foster & Dobbs specialty foods store. What should you pair with an Oregon pinot]]> Will Smith sequels more necessary than Men in Black III. Something is terribly wrong with the world when we’re getting a third Men in Black movie and still don’t know what happened after...]]> A federal judge may decide if Oswego Lake is open to the public. A lawsuit filed this morning in U.S. District Court in Portland seeks to force Lake Oswego, Oregon’s wealthiest city, to open its namesake lake for public access. (You can read the suit h]]> Portland’s software industry is booming. So where are all the women? On a warm morning last June, Mayor Sam Adams stood in front of a crowd of computer geeks at the Eliot Center in downtown Portland...]]> Guantanamo Baywatch mines the dirty intersection of surf rock and punk. Chevelle Wiseman had never played bass when she agreed to be the bassist for Guantanamo Baywatch, a handicap she overcame by... ]]> Promoters of a private casino are betting they have a better story than in 2010. If insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result, the people behind a proposal to develop a private casino in Wood Village might seem a little crazy.  After all, ]]> Portland’s mayoral primary had something to teach everyone about Rose City politics. Fresh off his May 15 primary victory, mayoral candidate Charlie Hales fired most of his staff last week. As a gesture of...]]> The state’s biggest teachers union believes in seniority— just not for its own employees. Becky Corkill got laid off May 15.  Corkill, 53, works for the Oregon Education Association, the state’s biggest teachers union. She drove from her Klamath Falls home to the OEA’s Portl]]> Battleship, the gargantuan-budget sci-fi action-adventure based on a Hasbro board game and starring Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna, wasn't screened by WW's press deadlines. Why not? It's only the end of cinema as we know it. Here's a review.WW Critics Grade: C]]> Documents reveal details about white-powder mailings, and how they tie up government responders. The return address was listed 2413 NW Burnside St., Portland—a nonexistent location. The sender was “The MIB, LLC”—a nonexistent business. The more than 100 recipients, however, were rea]]> President Obama has “evolved” to support gay marriage. Oregon isn’t there yet. Before President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage last week, he had been talking with Terry Bean about the issue for four years.  Bean, a Portland real-estate broke]]>