Scoop: James Franco Fanfic, Tanuki Returns and Portlandia LIVE

1. FUNDING JAMES FRANCO: We’re big fans of “crowd-funding” website Kickstarter, which allows people to follow through on brilliant and/or stupid project ideas through cash pledges from generous ’netters. This may be our favorite: Portland-based Social Malpractice Publishing and Container Corps Art Press have successfully raised $2,000 to publish a book called Fucking James Franco: “a collection of erotic fiction that describes hypothetical sexual encounters with the greatest American actor, writer, and visual artist of all time.” Although the project has met its funding goal, it is still taking pledges: $10 will score you a copy of Fucking James Franco; $25 will also get you a screenprinted mirror poster of James Franco “making out with himself.”
2. NOW OPEN: Tanuki, Janis Martin’s Japanese bar, reopens in Montavilla this week, and will be open on Thanksgiving. >> Mi Mero Mole, Kenny & Zuke’s co-founder and occasional WW contributor Nick Zukin’s new Mexico City-style taco joint, opens next week. >> Yet another craft distillery is coming to town! Industrial Row Distillery has applied for a license at 645 N Tillamook St. >> Now here’s a business name: Sweatpants Corporation, the business identity of Nostrana sous chef Johanna Ware, has applied to open Smallwares, an Asian restaurant and bar open until 2 am nightly, in the space at 4605 NE Fremont St. that last housed Doc George’s Jazz Kitchen. >> Two real-estate agents, Darcy Perry and Melissa Steenson, have applied to open a wine bar and specialty-foods store called Bin 21 at 5011 NE 21st Ave., around the corner from Salt & Straw ice cream shop. >> Emily’s Teriyaki & Pho, which recently applied for a space on North Columbia Boulevard, is now applying to open in the former La Salsa Mexican Grill at 6036 SE Division St.
3. PORTLANDIA LIVE: You may already know that Portlandia will stage a six-city tour featuring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein talking, clips from the second season, and some sort of live musical component that will show how much better SNL castmate Andy Samberg is at the music thing. Stumptown itself gets the first show, Dec. 27. Speaking of.... Were Walter Winchell still alive, we think he’d want to know if Carrie and Fred are dating, or did date, or what. He’s dead, and Scoop is far too serious a journalistic enterprise to indulge such triviality, so that question will just go unasked.
4. THE NEW BLACK: Interested in marking Black Friday without joining an anarchist-planned, shopping-mall protest or wearing stained sweatpants to Best Buy? Local stores—90 of ’em—are banding together for “Little Boxes,” which is basically just a big raffle for prizes like an iPad, but seems like a nice middle ground between attempting to bring consumerism to its knees or pushing someone down on a mad dash for the last Lalaloopsy doll.

WWeek 2015