Gossip Should Have No Friends

[October 25th, 2006] OVER THE RIVER After 13 years in his Pearl District Location, gallerist Mark Woolley is leaving the Pearl and moving his entire operation across the river to his Woolley at Wonder location on Northeast Russell Street. Woolley says that continuing to rent the Pearl space, where a significant rent hike is imminent (at least $800 more than he's currently paying), simply does not make economic sense. Plus, he's the co-owner of the Wonder building, which offers nearly double the space of the Pearl location. A short-lived plan to lease office space in the Wonder complex under the moniker "Buzz" has been called off. Woolley's last show in the Pearl will be in December, with regular shows continuing in January at Woolley at Wonder, which will then become known simply as The Mark Woolley Gallery .

where woolley go Gallerist Mark Woolley leaves his Pearl digs (above) to head Northeast.

CITY SLICKERS Wham. Bam. Thank you, Sam. Portland Fashion Week kicked off last Friday night with designs from Sofada , Poppi Swimwear , Duchess , Louise Jeans and the Elusive Collection. One word: gorgeous! Not to be confused with last month's fashionable fÊte, this week's shows were given a bit more political clout with the appearance of Mayor Tom Potter and City Commish Sam Adams, who sported a Black Fox jacket accented by a Bonnie Heart Clyde tie and earned himself the nickname "Glam" Adams from Nicolle Camarata of Nicolle Shops Portland. We're waiting with bated breath to see the stylings of, say, Eric Sten. His gap-toothed grin brings to mind a shiny, sweaty Ahhhnold—do you think he'll wear a Speedo on closing night?

WING MAN Portland Center Stage's stellar production of West Side Story had a bit of backstage drama last week when one of its leads, Anderson Davis (he plays Tony, the tenor heartthrob), began to lose his voice. Unable to cancel (the show is sold out), Artistic Director Chris Coleman waited in the wings with every intention of filling in, at least vocally, for Davis. Thankfully, Coleman said, he wasn't needed. "When I sat down and saw the score," Coleman, a former crooner said, "I realized, even on the best day of my life, I don't have a high B-flat."

WHAT YOU MISSED ON WW'S LOCALCUT.COM THIS WEEK

Casey Jarman makes plans to follow very talented Portland MCs Illmaculate and The Saurus to the $10,000 rap battle finals in the City of Sin. He anticipates a wild (and hopefully victorious) weekend of rhymes, booze and big-money slot-machine gambling...Michael Byrne posts a link to PDX Pop Now!'s Cary Clark's excellent blog article about how the OLCC is (for like, the millionth time) ruining everybody's fun, this time by making it nearly impossible for all-ages clubs to be financially successful, effectively shutting the under-21 crowd out of the local music scene...Casey Jarman weighs in on the strangeness of local "producer/mc/crooner" Bosko's performance alongside rapper/Britney Spears-husband Kevin Federline on a recent episode of Jay Leno...Band Name of the Week features a smorgasboard of disturbing band names that Amy McCullough has been collecting for your enjoyment since before Local Cut was even a cyber-wink in WW's eye (!)...Plus, MP3's from Casey Neill and Sumara.