Scoop: Pizza Schmizza Says it Doesn't Suck Anymore

1. SUCK IT: Pizza Schmizza founder Andre Jehan has taken down a sign that said “Schmizza doesn’t suck anymore” after complaints from his building. Jehan resumed control of the pizza joint at the Pearl District’s tony Gregory building and wanted to announce that the pies were again up to his standards. Unfortunately, the word “suck” scandalized his neighbors who claim their bylaws prohibit “offensive” materials. “At first I thought I would just white out the ‘S’ and...let people figure it out, but I left the sign up for about 10 days after the warning and figured that was enough,” Jehan says. The Gregory’s bulletin boards are now decorated with fliers that say “The only thing that sucks now is your straw....”

1. THAT TIME AGAIN: The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art has announced a partial lineup for its 10th annual Time-Based Art Festival. Among the local, national and international performers appearing this year: Mexican theater company Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol, premiering two political docu-dramas; musician Aki Onda, curating a showcase of Japan’s avant-garde sound artists; experimental filmmaker Sam Green, screening his documentary on R. Buckminster Fuller with a live soundtrack from indie-rock bigwigs Yo La Tengo; and, in a solo storytelling performance, Laurie “O Superman” Anderson. TBA takes place Sept. 6-16 at various locations.

1. MFNW KNOWS DRAMA: MusicfestNW—owned and operated by this very paper—has finally announced the initial lineup for this year’s festival, which runs Sept. 5-9. Of special note are the Pioneer Courthouse Square shows: one featuring mash-up mastermind Girl Talk (does the city have any idea what it’s in for?), another headlined by the excellent worldly folk-pop outfit Beirut, and yet a third downtown show with L.A.’s Silversun Pickups. Other headliners include Dinosaur Jr., the Tallest Man on Earth, Passion Pit, Lightning Bolt and Yelawolf. Being in the journalism biz when we’re not in the festival biz, though, it’s the storylines that grab our attention: Will returning sissy-bounce queen Big Freedia finally just move here? Will there be tears of joy during a DJ set from Jonathan Toubin, who was nearly killed in Portland last year when a taxi struck his room at the Jupiter Hotel? Why did Pete Krebs and company choose this year to reintroduce the city to two of their classic bands—Hazel and the Gossamer Wings? Stay tuned, Portland.

1. LOG RIDE: Portland is now home to the West Coast’s first indoor bike park. After nine months and eight contractors, the 60,000-square-foot Lumberyard is open for business and will host a launch party all day on June 9. “We rehabbed an old bowling alley that had been squatted in by non-residents of 82nd Avenue for years,” says employee Joshua Hutchens. “They’d extracted some of the plumbing and a lot of the copper.” He wouldn’t say how much it cost on the record, but did say “it’s the kind of place you just have to come and see, and wonder how much we spent.”

WWeek 2015