The It List: The Top 10 Things in Portland and the World

Each week our culture scientists rank their 10 favorite things in the universe. The resulting list is infallible. The list is perfect. If you don't agree with the list, you are wrong. Some items may stay atop the list for weeks, others may only make a brief appearance. Some items are Portland-centric, but only because Portland is at the center of the universe. Please do not write to us, asking for the metrics behind the list. We will not provide source material. We will not be swayed. Bow down to the list. Love the list, as the list loves all things. Let the list move through you. (And, you know, if you have suggestions for the list, stick them in the comments section below.)

1. Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel is used in the trailer for Silent House
It's supposed to be creepy, but mostly it reminded us of Mike Nichols' deeply moving cancer film Wit, and this scene in particular:


So we actually started crying during the trailer, as if subconsciously recalling the death of a beloved aunt. Join us! This is emotionally devastating in ways that will take several hours to recover from!

2. Ron Wyden posts on TechDirt about SOPA PIPA
Because it's nice when we can be genuinely proud of our politicians.

3. The Portland International Film Festival is showing a movie called Grandma, a Thousand Times.
We can't stop finding this funny. It's a magical-realist documentary, which is even funnier.

4. Pupusas
El Buen Gusto Pupuseria does some of the best bread and cheese combinations in Portland. Which is impressive, as seemingly everything in Portland has bread and cheese.

5. Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Sure, Tim and Eric's theatrical debut is one of those weird, pre-theatrical pay-per-view things for early adopters (hilariously, Mark Cuban is the Executive Producer), but we are SO willing to pay $15 for 90 minutes of THIS:



6. Sunday morning rainbow over Portland
Were you awake and outside at like 7 am Sunday? If so, maybe you saw an awesome full rainbow—at one point a double rainbow, oh my God, what does it mean—over the city of Portland. Sorry to all the sleepy fucks who missed it:

7. Kim Dotcom
The Megaupload founder makes the list for a second week (dropping six places from #1) for the fact that he lost his position as the highest-ranked player in Call of Duty while in prison.

8. There Is No Enemy

Built To Spill's 2009 record has been awesome since it came out but just seems inexplicably awesomer now.

 

9. Watching Robocop after drinking a bottle of wine and two glasses of bourbon.
"Your move, creep." Wahoo!

10. MySpace
Because it's totally making a comeback. Did you know that you can use your Facebook account to sign in to MySpace? How fucking crazy is that!?