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$5 Power
After suffering through a few rough weeks, the magnificent Portland Power has kicked ass all over the country and fought its way back to first place in the western division just in time for the playoffs. Welcome Natalie Williams, Molly Goodenbour, Katy Steding and DeLisha Milton back to Memorial Coliseum for their final regular-season home game. This Thursday, Feb. 12, is Fan Appreciation Night; if you mention Willamette Week at the ticket booth, you can buy an unlimited number of general-admission seats for the discounted price of $5 each. The game against the Colorado Xplosion tips off at 7 pm.
GO EAST, YOUNG TENOR!
Portland tenor David Vanderwal will soon be packing his bags and pitch pipe as he prepares to move to New York City, where he will try to warble his way into the hearts of audiences, agents and conductors.
Vanderwal, 34, is one of Portland's best tenors. In the past season he has been singing more frequently beyond the West Coast. "Other singers keep asking, 'Why are you in Portland, dude? Get out and do something!' "I'm working a lot," he continues, "but the work here is limited. In New York I hope to find someone to manage my national contacts so I don't have to spend 95 percent of my time getting work." Vanderwal has already taken a bite of the Big Apple. "I have a choral position at St. Thomas Episcopal, and it's enough to pay the rent. I just have to sing five choral masses a week." The busy fellow will marry Heidi Kuhn on Feb. 25, then fly to NYC two weeks later. Once his feet hit the pavement, he will be crooning at every conductor's doorstep. "We'll return some day," he says. "Portland is our home. But right now, I've got to make the most of my
talent." --James Bash Eurotrash Mags
The big year looms. It's almost 1999, when currency in the European Union switches to the euro. Prepare for the continent's heightened financial and cultural influence early by investing in a few (mostly British, for obvious reasons) European periodicals. You'll pay a bit more for the import, but fresh lingo and bold graphics are worth a couple of extra pence. Here are some of our favorites in a few of the major magazine genres: Culture
Fresh from the U.K., the pages of Wallpaper are filled with ultrafabulous people doing high-dollar fascinating things. With each flip of the page you can live vicariously through these blessed ones to learn the hippest, hottest ways to entertain, travel and decorate. You'll need to brush up on your English slang (snogging = making out; skint = flat broke), but even if you don't totally get it, it's still a happy afternoon spent dreaming of being a globetrotting richie with a house of gold. Wallpaper is bimonthly; it's available at Rich's Cigar Store and Borders Books and Music for $6.95/issue. (Cynthia MacKay) Music
Unlike most music magazines, England's The Wire--not to be confused with an American publication of the same name--caters neither to the mainstream nor to the willfully obscure. Every month, The Wire covers artists who create challenging music regardless of genre, though the insightful, edgy writers tend to hone in on electronic music, avant-jazz, indie rock and intelligent punk. You can find The Wire at music stores, as well as Rich's, Powell's and Borders, for $5.50. (Richard Martin) Fashion
Frank, London's new magazine for women, has all the expected trappings of a fashion mag: couture clothes, trends seen on the street and must-have beauty items. But it's also jam-packed with articles about vodka, tights, Mongolia and Greenpeace. Turn straight to the "Next Big Thing" feature to find out what you can't live without: a furry pencil case (the writers advise to "steal one from an infant"). Then take your time discovering how the British view America and trying to decipher bizarre lingo ("faff" and "toast soldiers" mean anything to you?). The best thing about Frank is that, unlike in most magazines, the stories don't jump; you don't have to skip from page 77 to page 207 to finish reading. Frank is available at Borders for $6.95; you can subscribe (12 issues for $78) by calling 011-085-843-5315. (Christina Melander) Art
For art magazine as pure fetish object, Parkett, especially its gorgeous new issue, sets a new standard for brilliant overproduction. With a reflective, silver binding fronting the backwards text, and heavy, glossy pages loaded with pictures, the book-length German/Swiss quarterly bruises so easily that it barely merits reading. Indeed, although all the articles appear transcribed in both English and German--the international language of art history--the writing is boring when compared with graphics that will make any art nerd sigh with envy and delight. Powell's sells Parkett for $29 new, but often carries used and back issues at reduced prices. (Jon Raymond)
REAL World Music
Lewis & Clark has been getting a bit of questionable attention lately, but this weekend's events probably won't attract the interest of CNN. The odyssey of Lou Harrison has been one of the most intriguing in 20th-century American music. This week it winds back to where it began, as the acclaimed composer visits Portland to participate in "Music's World Visionaries," a three-day series of events sponsored by the Pamplin Society of Fellows of Lewis & Clark College. Born in Portland in 1917, Harrison studied with Schoenberg, worked with John Cage and was championed by Virgil Thomson. Between and around stints as a writer, florist, teacher (at Reed and elsewhere) and worker at an animal hospital, he composed in a wide variety of genres and styles. Based for a long time in California, he made extended visits to East Asia, and it is the influence of Indonesian, Korean and Chinese music that earned him the label of "Pacific Rim composer." "Music's World Visionaries" starts Wednesday, Feb. 11, and includes lectures by Bali-based ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown ("World Cultures and Music: Traditional Concepts, Modern Realities") and English scholar and composer Wilfrid H. Mellers ("Perspectives on Music of the Western World"). The program ends with a concert of works by Mellers and Harrison, with performers including guitarist Bryan Johanson, soprano LeaAnne DenBeste, the Fear No Music 20th Century Ensemble and the Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan. The concert will be held at 8 pm Friday in Lewis & Clark's Evans Auditorium, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road; call 768-7460 for details. --James McQuillen |
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