SCOOP

[June 22nd, 2005] RUMBLEFISH: Blowfish, Pufferfish, Sushi Mania ? It's not entirely the fault of Chris and Cassey Kang that they've changed the name of their cozy little sushi joint at 914 NE Broadway three times in eight months. Blame Julian Lennon , son of legendary Beatle John Lennon . Turns out Lennon co-owns his own chain of glitzy Blowfish sushi-anime-nightclubs in Los Angeles. The Kangs changed their restaurant's name from Blowfish to Pufferfish last November after the California crew threatened a lawsuit over national rights to the name. Stick with us now, because this is where the name game gets even more confusing: This past April, the Portland couple received another notice-goodbye, Pufferfish. Lennon and his partners had also gobbled up the nationwide rights to the names Pufferfish, Blowphish and Fugu Sushi-even though the business is not using any of them. Chris Kang says while he's sick of buying new signs-which has cost about $5,000, plus another $4,000 for reprinting menus-but "this is just part of the business." Blowfish-'scuse us, Sushi Mania -turns 1 year old next month.

NAME DROPPING: On a trip to New York City last month, arts promoter Cynthia Kirk got her hometown fix when she ran into three Portland actors in one day. She saw the first P-town pair-Jim Iorio and Jennifer Roberts -at a Greenwich Village restaurant, just days before their wedding at the actors' chapel, The Little Church Around the Corner. Later that night, Kirk ran into Wade McCollum in Times Square, after the actor's showcase performance of One, his new show-in-development, at a Flatiron District club. "In the 25 years I lived in New York, I rarely ran into anyone I knew," says Kirk, who is a publicist for Portland Center Stage, Oregon Ballet Theatre and Chamber Music Northwest. "I guess Portland's small-town, everyone-knows-everyone vibe is following me around."

CELEB SPOTTING: At first Scoop thought that was a Doug Martsch look-alike gnawing on a slice at Mississippi Pizza and kicking back beers at Amnesia Brewing-but now we know he's the real thing. Martsch's band Built to Spill is wrapping its fourth Warner Bros. album in a new studio near North Beech Street and Mississippi Avenue. The rockers stayed in town to finish up sound mixing because they felt "really comfortable here," as frontman Martsch reported to Billboard.com, though he said technical problems have made the experience "sort of frustrating." But Scoop was too uncomfortable (awe-struck, perhaps?) to ask the beer-guzzlin' Martsch when the new CD will hit the shelves.

PHOTOS A NO-NO: Sadly, our X-ray vision needed a checkup last week. Exhibit A: In our listings, we paired a blurb on the Corazon y Duende Night of Flamenco (Saturday, June 18) with an image of California's Phoebe Vernier, "la Fibi," who will be coming to town July 23 for the upcoming Portland Flamenco Festival (July 20-24-see portlandflamencofestival.com). And while our heart only has eyes for the true vision that is Tom Jones, we were duped-Exhibit B-by the swarthy good looks of his Vegas-based doppelgänger, the impersonator/imposter Harmik! If you missed the real chest hair at the Schnitz, Harmik is available for the Wassup Pussycat wedding package at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel (vivalasvegasweddings.com). WW regrets the errors, and has agreed to stop huffing before Googling those pics.

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