Jay Horton
Willamette Week
Portland, OR, United States
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Past articles by Jay:
No. 20 Because Downtown Portland’s Oldest Used Bookstore Lives Again!
Reports of Cameron’s Books death have been somewhat exaggerated. Last April, Portland’s oldest bookstore did indeed lose its longtime brick-and-mortar location (and iconic signage) on Southwest 3rd Avenue. COVID shutdowns and ever-worsening area violence forced the store’s current shepherd, Crystal Zingsheim, to surrender the keys 18 months after negotiating a stay of eviction from the… → Read More
How a Little-Known Soul Man Created the Blues Brothers with a Toga Party in Eugene, Oregon
{basic=39 years ago this Sunday, a low-budget, near-star-less, patently offensive “drive-in movie” began filming in Eugene, Oregon. It’s called Animal House. } → Read More
Oasis: Supersonic Does Not Look Back In Anger
Mat Whitecross’ rockumentary teaches an important lesson: don’t give the stars creative control. → Read More
Legendary Illustrator Bill Plympton Returns to Portland for Two Events
The Mayor of Toontown returns home to screen a collection of animated shorts. → Read More
Industrial Eastside
For locals still convinced that Portland lost its soul, the inner eastside is where Portland jumped the charcuterie. But imagining a complete transformation rather underestimates how deep the area’s weirdness lays. → Read More
Roseway
Today, Roseway exists as a charming blend of bohemian enclave, Southeast Asian community, and Main Street U.S.A. → Read More
Cully
Cully—the land of satellite dishes and art cars, what-is-he-building-in-there sheds and prefab gazebos, ethnic communities enduring undisturbed for generations, and aspirational cultists—hasn’t entirely evaded the forces of change. → Read More
Overlook
For a neighborhood largely built on the detritus of transportation hubs past—only a refurbished smokestack remains from the once-sprawling Union Pacific freight house—Overlook no longer seems on the way to anywhere. There’s an eerily detached permanence to this area, as if it managed to evade decay in order to embrace picturesque obsolescence, save for one … Continue reading Overlook → Read More
Dark Horse Comics’ Secret Origins—As Told by the People Who Were There 30 Years Ago
For the 30th anniversary of Milwaukie juggernaut Dark Horse Comics, an oral history from the artists, editors and designers who helped begin it all. → Read More
“Absolutely Fabulous” Is Old and Out of Touch
Aging poorly was always the point. The BBC update proves that. → Read More
Tech-Hater Brian McLean Won An Academy Award for “Scientific and Engineering Achievement” This Year
Laika’s Brian McLean has spent most of his life actively opposing technological progress. → Read More
Portland’s Best Barpocalypse Now Redux Is the Matador, Re-created in a One-Room Apartment
When yet another old Portland bar closes, most folks never do anything but complain. Nicholas Burgess did something about it. → Read More
Portland’s Mary McDonald-Lewis Was the Voice of OnStar… and Taught Jean-Luc Picard to be An American
You’ve heard the voice of Mary McDonald-Lewis, you just can’t recall where. → Read More
Portland’s Best Musical Lightning Bolt Is an 8-Foot Tall Tesla Coil Named “Tessie” That Lives at Quarterworld
In April, the Quarterworld arcade debuted an 8-foot-tall solid-state Tesla coil with dual breakout rods tuned to emit 90-decibel tones in time with jagged bolts of electricity. → Read More
Portland’s Most Missed All-Ages Venues
While underage music fans have long been beleaguered in this city, Portland music history is littered with the ghosts of some amazing venues serving the under-21 demographic. Here are the ones we remember most fondly. → Read More
David Yow Is Done With Music, but His World Remains a Stage
“I don’t have much interest in music,” he admits. “It takes so much time. All I wanna do is act.” → Read More
Triple 9 Channels the Chaotic Grime of Forgotten ’70s Cult Classics
About five minutes into Triple 9, the star-studded heist film reveals its true identity. A handful of masked men we believe to be criminals → Read More
Hortland, 2006: The Year Taylor Swift Broke in East Portland
More than a girl, less than an angel.—16-year-old country star’s welcome to East Portland. → Read More
The Benefits of Gusbandry Is Portland’s Best New YouTube Show
These are boom times for web-based programming. And the Portland-based YouTube show The Benefits Of Gusbandry deserves to cash in. → Read More
Kicking & Streaming The Librarians: Doctor Why?
Checking out TNT’s locally-filmed series of supernatural sleuths, WW finds something borrowed, something ew. Where to properly shelve The Librarians? For a pillar of TNT’s prime-time line-up (Falling Skies, The Last Ship), cheery shenanigans poorly fit the accompanying red-state apocalyptica. There are plentiful gags and occasional chills, but neither comedy nor horror apply. Although shot …… → Read More