Gossip Should Have No Friends

[November 15th, 2006] HOUSE ARREST Give me liberty...or Hugh Laurie? Not everyone glued to their tube last Tuesday was looking for midterm election results. Fox-12 claims more than 40,000 telephone complaints were logged when the station switched from broadcasting doctor drama House, starring Hugh Laurie, to concession and victory speeches from the Oregon governor's race . "We blew the circuit," said news director Patrick McCreery, who reported the station's phone system was down for at least a half-hour. "It was the single largest response to anything I've ever done ." House junkies can set their TiVos: the much-missed episode will be repeated on the USA Network at 11 pm Friday, Nov. 17, on Comcast Cable or at 8 pm for those with satellite dishes.

IT'S GOTTA BE THE SHOES Adidas has made two Portland hip-hop DJs—underground staple DJ Wicked and My City Live/Jammin 95.5 DJ O.G. One —the local focus of a national shoe program for prominent hip-hop DJs . One and Wicked chose retro basketball shoe "shells" to work with, then totally pimped them out. "We've got a lot of great DJs [in Portland], and hopefully this will help motivate them to keep on grindin'," O.G. told Scoop. The exclusive Wicked and O.G. One kicks will be available in very, very limited number at a to-be-announced Portland boutique shop. Adidas, in conjunction with Cool Nutz, is planning a release party for Dec. 26 at Berbati's Pan. Scoop has yet to see the sneakers but has been reassured by O.G. One that his shoe is "dope." So, that's a relief.

OPERA QUEEN A little bit of musical chairs at Opera Theater of Oregon: Katie Taylor, a self-described "over-the-top drama queen" and sometime singer, has been named the Portland-based "opera for everyone" company's new artistic director. "I've got some big and fancy shoes to fill," Taylor says. "Hip boots, I think, in white leather." She takes the reins from founding artistic director Angela Niederloh—yes, the same Angela Niederloh who also founded and then was summarily ousted from recently defunct Oregon Lyric Opera (see Scoop, WW, Nov. 8, 2006). Taylor, with hip-chick education director Amy Russell Cathey, has some ambitious plans for the company, including a new opera-cabaret troupe called "The New Bellini Cavalcade of Beautiful Losers."

WHAT YOU MISSED ON WW'S LOCALCUT.COM THIS WEEK Video of rounds one, two and three of the World Rap Championships Las Vegas, and how parking-garage security nearly thwarted the battle...Life on the road, in their own words: tour diaries from Nick Jaina, Alea Diane and Tractor Operator...A dinosaur holding a bra and a shark with a 'stache, a.k.a. The return of Band Name of the Week...MP3s from Clorox Girls, Super XX Man, ...worms, and more.