Art
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Exodus 32 finds a modern analogue
And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath…
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The Oregon Symphony has a new conductor — maybe
Today the staff and orchestra of the Oregon Symphony picked up a possible explanation for why they never see Carlos Kalmar (the Symphony's music director) and Charles Calmer (the Symphony's artistic administrator) in the same room.
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Who has taken Roger Ebert’s place as the most powerful film critic in America?
A scathing review from Roger Ebert could persuade millions of Americans not to buy tickets to a new film. This man has done him one better: a film that he doesn't like won't even make it to the big screen.
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Not only can you not take it with you, but you’d better have left $35 behind for the Arts Tax
One quirk of the arts tax imposed by the City of Portland through the will of the well-meaning voters in November is that it taxes the full-year 2012 income of Portland residents even though it didn't take effect until December 5, 2012, when 339 days of the year had already passed. The act defines a "resident" of Portland to…
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Willamette Week includes Isaac in the Donner Party
Well, not exactly, but in writing here about Professor Bogdanski's challenge to the City of Portland's head tax for the arts, Nigel Jaquiss did call me "easy to digest." I need to write less clearly.
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Why the courts will strike down the City of Portland $35 arts tax
It's now been reported that prominent Portland blogger and tax professor Jack Bogdanski has filed suit to declare the $35/head Portland arts tax unconstitutional. Here's why Professor Bogdanski will win. In 2000, in the case of Cook v. City of Portland, the Oregon court of appeals described a poll tax as "a fixed tax assessed…
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If you have to travel by yourself, make the most of your companion
Baritone Robert Orth, in town to play Don Alfonso in Portland Opera's production of Cosi Fan Tutte, is often away from home, appearing on stage. This week in Portland, someone asked him if he ever felt lonely being away from home so much. "When I started to travel," he replied, "yes, I did feel lonely. But…
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The National Portrait Gallery offers a glimpse of the Mondales
The National Portrait Gallery reopened last July 4 after being closed for six years for renovations. One of its central collections is of portraits of the Presidents, ranging from the standard stately depictions to drawings by Herblock and whimsical, biting sculptures by Patrick Oliphant. (His statuette of Richard Nixon shows Mr. Nixon riding a horse,…
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George Bernard Shaw comments on the Oregon legislature
The stories this week about our legislators enjoying weekends in Maui at the expense of the Oregon Restaurant and Beverage Association and its members brought to mind this passage from The Apple Cart, a play by George Bernard Shaw. The play describes a polite power struggle between Magnus, the king of Great Britain, and his…