CAT Adoption

On the next Outlook Portland (Sunday, 6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

A friend of mine, who happens to be left-handed, was lamenting the right-centric composition of the world recently, and I –without thinking– casually dismissed her concerns. “It seems fine to me,” I said, “Just use your other hand; problem solved.” There was an icy silence indicating that I, perhaps, did not see –or experience– the world in quite the same way she did.

And so it is that the somewhat-specialized need can, from time to time, be given short shrift…shunted to the side. The Mac user in a world of Windows; the Zune user in a world of iPods; the soybean enthusiast in a beef-centric city.

In Portland, Oregon, the closest comparison might lay in those eternally-intertwined but utterly different creatures: dogs and cats. A quick look around our city might lead an outside observer to think we had somehow installed canines as our leaders…or at least as something approaching legal citizens.

So, it’s only fair that we take some time to talk about the other side of that particular coin, and this weekend, we’ll start with The Cat Adoption Team…or C.A.T. They’re the Northwest’s largest nonprofit, limited admission cat shelter–and much beyond that, including medicine, adoption, and foster care programs.

Joining us Sunday to talk about all of this is Miss Bobbie Winchell.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: The King of the Monsters: Godzilla.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

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On the next Outlook Portland (Sunday, 6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

In 1955, Harold Crockett gave us Harold and the Purple Crayon, the story of a boy who conjures the most extraordinary things through the most amazing means…he draws them. Trees, the sky, a dragon.

Harold wants to go for a moonlit stroll, but there is no moon….so, with a wave of his hand, he creates one. When the moonlight shows that there is nowhere to walk, Harold -in the book’s most symbolic moment- uses the crayon to literally draw his own path through his own world.

So it is with anyone who creates, and perhaps especially so with those who use not just words, but the confluence of words and imagery–fashioning from their own imaginations what never before existed.

All of which brings us to Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, the creative force(s) behind such works as Heartbreakers and Boilerplate, the latter of which was recently optioned by Paramount Studios for Mr. J.J. Abrams.

On Sunday’s Outlook Portland, we’ll have a truly fascinating discussion with the duo, covering the past, present, and future of their own careers, as well as their thoughts on the comics industry’s exciting and sometimes-tumultuous evolution.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: The Last Son of Krypton: Superman.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

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On the next Outlook Portland (Sunday, 6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

It’s amazing what a single word can do. Ask North Dakota, commonly believed to be much colder than its southern cousin, even though the two states have similar climates. Ask South Central Los Angeles, which recently dropped the “Central” altogether as part of a rebranding effort. Ask the “middle” child, for that matter…or the recipient of a “left-handed” compliment.

A single word can color a lot of perceptions, and it’s no different in our fair city: North Portland, the West Hills, and…The East Side.

Alive and vibrant with overlapping cultures and characters, East Portland is beloved by its residents…and occasionally misjudged by others. The East Portland Action Plan is an attempt to remedy that situation.

On Sunday’s Outlook Portland, we’ll speak with Katie Larsell, Nick Sauvie, and Larry Kotan of the East Portland Action Plan. We’ll talk about The East Side’s challenges (and advantages), and we’ll examine how one side of the city became so vastly different from the other.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: The Last Son of Krypton: Superman.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

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On the next Outlook Portland, Rick talks to Atomic Arts’ Adam Rosko about their latest Trek in the Park production, “Mirror, Mirror”. Tune in Sunday morning, 6:30am, only on NW32 TV.

Podcasting in Portland.

On the next Outlook Portland (Sunday, 6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

There’s a lot that science fiction got right in terms of prediction: atomic power -and atomic bombs, for that matter- spaceflight, the practical application of lasers, and cloning, to name just a few.

Where dreamers of the past got it wrong, however, is where designers and creators of today get it right….and that is matters of size. One device -which fits in one pocket- and represents the miniaturization and consolidation of…everything–your phone, your videophone, your computer, your GPS, your Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In fact, the only thing immense about this device is the vast, nearly limitless amount of content it can access. In the blink of a figurative eye, terms like “radio” and “broadcast” have become either augmented or obsolete, depending on your view.

Sunday, we’ll talk with two Portlanders who are knee-deep in this ongoing change: Mr. Matt Hunter, creator and host of A Jumps, B Shoots, which focuses on video game news and culture, and Mr. Kyle Yount, founder and host of Kaijucast, which centers on all things directly or tangentially related to Godzilla. We’ll get their take on owning and operating  a podcast in 2011, as well as pitfalls that might face up-and-coming programs. It is a glorious time to be alive.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: The King of the Monsters…Godzilla.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson..

Indigo Kelleigh, Stumptown Comics Fest

On the next Outlook Portland (Sunday, 6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

Let us now praise Tippy the Turtle, familiar to millions, even if they never knew that was his name.

Tippy the Turtle, along with a pirate just called “Pirate”, peered out from matchbooks and comic books for several decades, passing along the positive message that you (yes, you) could be an artist. If you could draw the turtle, the advertisement said, then a world of magical knowledge was within reach…an art school was standing by, and there, you would learn all the secrets of visual creation.

A great many of us did learn several things from this exercise:

1) Advertisements included with a pack of cigarettes or a copy of Swamp Thing aren’t necessarily the gold standard for truth, and

2) Drawing the turtle -drawing anything- is a lot harder than it seems, giving most of us a newfound appreciation for people such as this Sunday’s guest.

Indigo Kelleigh is an illustrator and designer; a creator of artwork for individuals, corporations…and for its own sake. He’s also the director of the Stumptown Comics Fest, which happens this weekend at the Oregon Convention Center.

This Sunday, he’ll join us for a discussion of art, inspiration, and what makes the Stumptown Comics Fest stand apart. Don’t miss it.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: The King of the Monsters: Godzilla.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

Multnomah County Library.

On the next Outlook Portland (6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

In what was perhaps the most poignant episode in its five-season run, The Twilight Zone gave us “Time Enough at Last”, the story of Henry Bemis…a mild-mannered bank teller who wants only peace, and quiet…and the chance to read.

His customers view him with contempt; his wife, with scorn. In one pivotal scene, a workplace supervisor denounces him angrily, saying, “You, Mr. Bemis, are a reader! A reader of books, of magazines, of periodicals, and newspapers!”

Even as a child, I was extraordinarily proud to be all of those things. I knew –and was in awe of– the infinite possibilities held in those pages….and in the magical building where every page did reside. The library was, and is, a sort of secular church.

This Sunday, we’ll be joined by two people who help to broaden the library’s reach: Jane Salisbury, Supervisor of Outreach Services, and Melissa Madenski, Adult Literacy Coordinator for Multnomah County Library.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: the leader of the Decepticons: Megatron.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

Sunday’s Outlook Portland: Of Comic-Books and Creation.

On the next Outlook Portland (6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

In 1933, a man named Maxwell Gaines did something momentous: he folded a piece of paper.

Actually, he folded and stapled. Gaines took a selection of newspaper comic strips –which were often reprinted and given away as an oversized insert, not unlike Parade Magazine– and he hit upon the idea of folding, stapling, and (this is, perhaps, most important) putting a sticker on the front which said, “ten cents.”

The comic book was born.

Gaines’s son, Bill, would go on to revolutionize the format with such titles as Tales from the Crypt and Crime SuspenStories. Gaines’s figurative children, meanwhile, would go on to create towering works of exceptional brilliance, covering every conceivable genre and entering the 21st century as, perhaps, America’s greatest contribution to the world of literature.

All of which brings us to 2011, when two Portlanders finished and released their own foray into this creative continuum. Issue #1 of La Brujeria from Geek in the City comics is on sale now, and there is no more appropriate city than our own in which to ask the question, “What goes into creating a brand-new comic book?” Writer/creator Aaron Duran and artist James Sinclair will walk us through the background, inspiration, and challenges involved in producing La Brujeria, and share their insights into this often-transcendent art form.

PLUS: We’ll talk to Benja Barker of Portland’s Alter Egos Society; Benja will discuss Project Mayor-Man…truly, a quintessentially-Portland endeavor.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: Paul Stanley of KISS…as a rubber duck.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

Comedy in Portland.

On the next Outlook Portland (6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

Standup comedy is, in a very real way, an amalgam of all the most common human anxieties–concentrated into one live, on-the-spot crucible. Sunday, we’ll talk with two Portland practitioners of this high-wire art form: Stage and radio veteran “Big” Jim Willig, and Mr. Don Frost. Both are charming and hilarious, but they also speak about comedy –as an art form and a career– in a way which provides a very real glimpse into a world few of us experience firsthand. The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: The King of the Monsters: Godzilla.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.

Hank Stern and Anna Griffin.

On the next Outlook Portland (6:30am, on NW32 TV)…

It’s something on which absolutely everyone -especially your nutcase uncle, who claims he has “Morgellons”- holds an opinion: media bias, and the degree to which it does, or does not, exist in mainstream news reporting.

Two of Portland’s finest print journalists, Ms. Anna Griffin, who writes a thrice-weekly column for The Oregonian, and Mr. Hank Stern, Managing News Editor for Willamette Week, join us for a discussion of newspapers, neutrality, and the rise of electronic journalism.

The show will also feature another “Outlook Portland Editorial Reply”, brought to you by our marquee sponsor, Things From Another World. This week’s guest editorialist: Magic: The Gathering’s Thornscape Battlemage.

Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV…the home of Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and Rick Emerson.