What do you suppose the SamRand twins will pull out of the pickle jar?
Hummm...let's see; there is the convention center hotel, the baseball stadium, covering the 405 freeway, more loos, parking meters in the NW and in the SE parts of town, and of course lots and lots of "behavior change".
It is all compost, IMO.

Is Ms.Brownstein even from Portland? Don't think so. Virtually the entire creative class have retired to Portland from elsewhere...

I think I saw her downtown this morning, just minutes after this post went up.

Carrie Brownstein is not from Portland, but she is atleast from the NW. She was born in Seattle and grew up in the Puget Sound region, and is actually a pretty cool person...and that's coming from a person (me) who does not like the creative/hipster class for the most part. Lol

Carrie Brownstein played guitar and did vocals in Portland band Sleater-Kinney, which split up a few years ago. She formed a new group called Wild(Flag,I think), and I believe it's also local.

When I lived over in NW, I frequented a little cafe over on 18th called the Stepping Stone; not sure if it's still called that or not, but I've heard that she's often seen there, so it seems reasonable to guess that she lives in the area.

Yup, it's Wild Flags. Playing at Doug Fir in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyT0w1CI224

That fact was noted by one of two ESPN columnists I actually read (Bill Simmons is the other) and he even included a super great pic of her. This guy is super smart and the brother of the Chicago Circuit Court Judge Easterbrook.

"It's only Jan. 3, and already we know who the first celebrity of 2012 is -- Carrie Brownstein, partner of Fred Armisen on the indie satire show "Portlandia." Last week, Brownstein was the subject of admiring profiles in the New Yorker and the New York Times Sunday Magazine, published within days of each other. It's not quite Bruce Springsteen being on the covers of Time and Newsweek on the same 1975 day (Oct. 27 issue) -- both stories proclaiming him a fast-rising unknown -- but it's close."

http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/story/_/id/7415167/green-bay-new-england-make-history-strong-offenses-weak-defenses

My in-laws from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA are fascinated by the Portlandia phenom...
I have to live it, so I am less enamored.

That show deserves an Emmy -- for journalism.

Tell me about it, Jack. I owe everyone involved with the show a tremendous debt. My wife and I regularly do art and plant shows, which have become more infested with "vintage" and "upscaled" junk from twits more interested in showing how cool their toys are than in actual sales. There is nothing in the universe more satisfying than watching potential customers walk up to a booth full of overpriced hipster "handicrafts", laugh "Put a bird on it!", and walk off.

Start buying up pickling supplies...the next phenom!

Portland band Sleater-Kinney

Always good to have a band in one city, named after a road in another city 118 miles away. Might as well call the next Portland band "Lancaster Drive", or "Willagillespie", or "Butler Market".