Gossip Should Have No Friends

[August 2nd, 2006] ART, INTERUPTED World-renowned Los Angeles-based artist Jason Rhoades , who was scheduled to mount a gonzo performance piece in Portland on Aug. 12, died in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Aug. 1 , according to Portland curator Marjorie Myers. He was 41. Myers, who was coordinating Rhoades' upcoming performance, says she received a call from a close associate of Mr. Rhoades at 10 am on Aug. 1, informing her that Rhoades had passed away in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. "I'm in shock," Myers told WW. (Myers added that, for obvious reasons, the planned performance has been canceled.) Scoop has not yet confirmed the cause of death, but WW’s visual arts critic, Richard Speer, had been in touch with Rhoades by phone and email the day before his death, scheduling an interview that was to have taken place Aug. 1. Rhoades' Portland performance was to have been titled "Northwest Pussy Harvest Lube Drive " and was to have been a wild event—during which 100 paying guests would have watched local homeless teens wrestle in Astroglide, K-Y Jelly and other intimate lotions inside a liver-shaped sculptural pool . According to Myers, Rhoades intended the performance as a commentary on the political and social oppression of women in radical Islamic countries. Details on funeral arrangements are not yet known.

TYPE CAST The Sci-Fi Channel's new reality series Who Wants to Be a Superhero is a trainwreck of a show that features socially challenged individuals competing to be a superhero. The show also features comic book art by local illustrator Matt Haley . Fresh off a gig drawing the Superman Returns comic, Haley watched last week's premiere of Superhero at Suki's. Haley won't divulge who the winner is, but having met most of the cast recently at the San Diego Comic-Con, he swears that the way the cast of nonactors comes across on television is how they really are. Which is a polite way of saying they are nerds .

BATTLE GEAR When it comes to showing their 2007 collections, PDX designers have gone and stitched themselves into two rival camps . In one corner, we have the Collections , a week of fashion shows put on by a dozen of the usual top design suspects (i.e., Adam Arnold and Seaplane) in early September. Challenging the Collections is the aptly named Portland Fashion Week , happening in late October. So why aren't they working together? According to Chris Cone , one facet of PFW Productions, "It was too late in the year." Hmmm. So for First Thursday, Aug. 3, we've got two competing fashion events on the same day: a sneak preview of the sustainable fashion at PFW at City Hall , emceed by none other than Sam Adams—first a rock show, next a catwalk, way to go Sam (visit www.portlandfashionweek.net for details)—and a fundraiser for the Collections at Holocene. Where to go? Who to align with? So much fashion, so little time.

VISION QUEST Screw the strait-laced Portland visioning ideas presented on page 20, Dingo Dizmal of the notorious Clown House in Northeast Portland offered the most original, if impractical ideas for making Portland better. How about moving Dignity Village, the self-governing permanent homeless community in Northeast Portland, to the West Hills and renaming it "Diggity Village." He also suggests water towers should be wheelchair-accessible "so gimps can drunkenly tag towers like the rest of us" and "crevassholes," people who get stuck climbing Mount Hood, should be left to save themselves. "It's the only deadly activity that's more avoidable than smoking," he wrote in an e-mail to WW.

THIS WEEK ON WW'S LOCALCUT.COM! Portland's Music Journal weighs in on our local hero Storm Large and her journey through the slimy, tattooed gauntlet that is Rockstar: Supernova. Check the site for up-to-the-minute gossip, opinions and maybe even some exclusive photos (which we know is really the only reason you're searching for her in Google) ... Last weekend's PDX Pop Now! festival went off without a hitch for almost everyone except our writers. Go to www.localcut.com and search "PDX Pop Now!" to read about the festivities' highlights and our writers' breakdowns ... Every day we bring you a new Cut of the Day, a free streaming MP3 from a local band. Last week we debuted exclusive tracks from Richmond Fontaine, Nick Jaina, Smoke and D. Yellow Swans. This week expect exclusive leaked tracks from the upcoming Thermals and Nice Boys releases ... And of course Local Cut boasts the most comprehensive online concert calendar in the world. Seriously. It has lasers. Check it out.

CAMPED OUT When Finder (WW's 192-page glossy guide to all things Portland) hit the streets last week, it erroneously lauded Imelda's/Louie's Shoes' extensive collection of Campers. In fact, this Mecca of hot heels and fab flats hasn't carried Campers in four years! Find out where to snag your own copy of the FREE mag (hurry up, they're goin' fast) at wweek.com/finder. And please shoot your own Finder feedback—good, bad or ugly—to finder@wweek.com.

SPORTS COUTURE Fashion bonus! The chic line of high-fashion Adidas workout duds by Brit designer Stella McCartney (she's the offspring of Paul and the real Mrs., Linda) is finally on its way to Portland. But will it be flying its freak flag at the Adidas Original Brewery Block boutique? Nuh-uh. It's at Physical Element (1124 NW Lovejoy St., 224-5425). Weird. But exciting nonetheless.