Gossip Should Have No Friends

[October 10th, 2007] YAY, TRANSPARENCY! Last week, Scoop reported that local writer (and WW contributor) Kevin Allman questioned the ethics of New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov on his blog kevinallman.com after the critic wrote favorably of Paley’s Place in a recent Times story on the Portland dining scene. In the story, Asimov never mentioned the fact that he is friends with restaurant owners Vitaly and Kimberly Paley. Allman got his answer from the newspaper Saturday, Oct. 6, when the Gray Lady included an editor’s note in both its print and online editions that clarified Asimov’s relationship to the Paleys . Allman’s response to his victory for clarity was brief: “I think they handled it appropriately.”

THE RUSSIANS ARE SO NOT COMING: Russian star conductor Vladimir Minin and singer Dmitry Beloselskiy, who were slated to appear this weekend with the Oregon Repertory Singers, won’t be coming, thanks to the unreliable visa service of the U.S. government. Both were denied artist visas after ORS planned a two-day concert series around their talents. “We’ve been working on this since May.... Both have been here twice before, and both were denied visas [this time],” says ORS executive director Jed Shay. “There is no ‘why.’ There is lots of conjecture and hyperbole and anger, but no answers.”

BOOMERANG?: So, whatever happened to PICA and TBA Festival founder Kristy Edmunds ? Didn’t she decamp to Australia for a high-profile festival directorship or something? She did. And according to news reports in Australia, her tenure as artistic director of the Melbourne International Arts Festival has created slumps in box-office receipts and sponsorships . According to interviews with Australian media, her plans after leaving the Melbourne Fest when the festival wraps up in late 2008 aren’t yet clear. Coincidentally, that’s around the same time when PICA’s guest artistic director Mark Russell will be concluding his third and final Time-Based Art Festival for PICA. The possibility that Edmunds might return to Portland is tantalizing, though PICA has yet to announce its post-Russell plans.

BIG NUMBERS, DICKS: There was an incorrect statistic in Mike Thelin’s “Eat Me” column last week. The column noted that the Portland Farmers Market lures 500,000 shoppers downtown each week. That’d be one hell of a market. It should have read each year. We’re sorry. Also, Farmers Market vice president Scott Dolich wrote WW to say he was misquoted. The original quote was: “The city hasn’t given us dick,” says Scott Dolich. “And we haven’t asked for dick.” Dolich says he clearly said “shit,” not “dick.” Dolich says it should have read: “We haven’t asked for shit. And the city hasn’t given us shit.” Thelin insists he heard the original four-letter word as “dick.” Visit wweek.com to read Dolich’s full letter to the editor.