Suzette Smith
Portland Mercury
Portland, OR, United States
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Recent articles by Suzette:
John Waters Turns 77 at Aladdin Theater, Clinton Street Plans a Week of Cult Trash Cinema in His Honor
Portland holds a lot of love for John Waters. The cult classic film director tours through nearly every winter holiday season, like a scandalous Santa—sans presents, plus vices. However, this year's John Waters Christmas show on December 1 is already sold out, potentially disappointing those who missed him due to widespread cancelations in 2020, or who weren't going out yet in 2021. There's good… → Read More
Mister Goose Simple, Melty Steamed Sandwiches Are a Vibe Check
We expected Mister Goose to be a sandwich shop, so when we walked into a homey, wood-paneled pub—with a stern portrait of a goose in a tiny cowboy hat over the mantle—it caught us a little off guard. "Sit anywhere," said a man sitting at the bar, who just seemed to be eating lunch. Between the cozy-looking booths, video lottery, and close-captioned corner TV, it felt like we'd stepped into a… → Read More
The Mosh Critique: Jean Dawson's Glitch Anthems and Party Hooks Turned Holocene Into a Fan Ocean
Jean Dawson took the stage at his sold out Holocene show wearing layers: A pull-over anorak and a soft-looking green ski mask. Blond locks poking out from inside framed his face like a halo. "I'm only hot in the places that it matters," he said, in response to a comment from the front row. Just before his ascendance, the audience—composed largely of teens, who left the club's separated, 21+ bar… → Read More
The Mosh Critique: Iceage's Hard-Won Mosh Pit at the Aladdin Theater
"Any of you pricks wanna leave your chairs… respectfully?" Elias Bender Rønnenfelt called to the crowd, at a Thursday October 13th moody rock double bill of Iceage and Earth. One song earlier, Aladdin Theater's auditorium had been at full brightness, and we had anticipated melting into our seats for both groups—remembering fondly a set in a nearly empty Detroit ballroom where we'd laid on the… → Read More
Good Morning, News: New Wolf Fam Alert, Oregon Landlords Can Raise Rent by 15 Percent, and Another Perspective on Perspectives
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! Things are looking cool and temperate out there today. We've been fooled before but right now we're… → Read More
Delivering Eyebrow Work to Rival the Rock, Shain Brenden Is Deservedly Portland's Funniest Person 2022
Congratulations are in order to stand-up SHAIN BRENDEN for winning the 2022 title of Portland‘s Funniest Person (PFP). Although its surprising he didn't win the title sooner, the PFP competition had a weird couple years, as have we all. TORY WARD took the runner up position despite what we thought was a poor showing from a talented comic, and self-described "soft-handed cowboy" JORDAN CASNER… → Read More
Good Morning, News: Reward Offered in Wolf Shooting, Wild Oregon Horse Gangs, and Fiona Has a Hippo Baby Brother
If you have had a closely guarded hippo baby name for most of your life, this is your chance to use it. This morning's Good Morning News has a lot of animal stories in it. It's unintentional, but we don't regret it. → Read More
Things Not to Miss at Pickathon 2022
Pickathon, you have been missed. And while specific live sets, dancing to DJs beneath the stars, and stumbling back to campsites under strands of fairy lights top the list of things we're excited about this year, there's simply nothing wrong with also loving the unfettered access to Pine State Biscuits in the market area either. So in no particular order, here are some recommendations for things… → Read More
RANKED: Who Will Be Champion of Salt & Straw's Month of Flower Ice Creams?
Local ice cream moguls Salt & Straw are often the butt of Portland weirdness jokes, but the company—founded in 2011 and still run by cousins Kim Malek and Tyler Malek—has proven over and again that ice cream seekers are as interested in strange and unusual flavors as they are in the classic Fudge Brownie. Salt & Straw more or less cycles through new flavors every month, sometimes working with… → Read More
Portland Indie Movie Theaters Add Open Caption Screenings
Movies in Portland got a little more accessible recently, as two local movie houses added open caption screenings to their regular repertoire. Cinema 21 announced the addition on Wednesday, and the Hollywood has offered open caption showings since a Sunday showing of Licorice Pizza, on March 13. Anyone who's watched a lot of films and TV has probably heard the phrase closed caption, which… → Read More
Good Afternoon, News: New Bus Alert, Ivanka Trump Testifies, and Zelenskyy Asks 'What Good Is the UN Security Council?'
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good afternoon, Portland. Hope you didn't pack all your sweaters away over the weekend because it's about to be cold again… → Read More
How Did This Lexus Get in a Portland Bioswale and Other Questions I Have
As of 30 minutes ago—and probably still—there's a Lexus in a bioswale at the corner of NE 11th and NE Couch. We do not yet know how the Lexus ended up in the bioswale, but if you can see the image above, it's all the way in there. Employees at a nearby auto repair shop said they knew nothing about the Lexus in their bioswale, other than it had been there since Thursday morning. They... → Read More
Good Afternoon, News: More Traffic Cams for Speedsters, Snakes With the Fur, and Russia Blocks Facebook
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good Afternoon, Portland! I see you winding down your day, getting ready to go out and forget the week's worries. Just READ… → Read More
17 Blocks Review: A Searing and Uplifting Portrait of a Black American Family
You can't take your eyes off 17 Blocks for even a second. The raw, home video footage documentary offers an intimate view into the lives of the Sanford-Durants, a Black family struggling to find joy and stability in Southeast Washington D.C. So many of the documentaries we watch now are slick mash-ups of stylized reenactments and moody voiceovers, assuring us that history can be mapped neatly… → Read More
Takeout Club: It's Gumbo Season!
Boy oh boy, is today a cold one. Portland usually gets warmer for a few weeks in February—BEFORE IT SNOWS IN FREAKING APRIL—but until we get to that bizarre thaw, we're all in the business of keeping warm. You know what time it is: It's gumbo season. Gumbo can be many things and involve many ingredients because the much beloved dish comes from the interplay of African, Indigenous, Haitian,… → Read More
Takeout Club: Downtown Burritos For Cold Weather and Pioneer Square's New Mexican Food Truck
Here come the rains, Portland! As always, we shall endure this wet sky rage and don our damp rainwear with pride. It’s still traditional to fret for the first week or so before settling into frizzy hair and the low ocean-like roar of rain pants. While your internal furnace shifts from cooling to hottening, treat yourself to some cheesy carbs. Now that we're on the other side of daylight savings… → Read More
TBA:20 Begins This Weekend to Make Note of a Time We'll Never Forget
If you didn’t know that Portland’s annual Time Based Arts Festival (TBA) is STILL ON, STILL HAPPENING, and STARTING THIS WEEKEND, don’t stress. The organization that puts it on—the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)—didn’t know if it would be possible either, until this past June. “We certainly didn’t know at the beginning of the pandemic,” Artistic Director and Curator of Public… → Read More
This Week in Food News: Farewell to Ford Food and Drink, Gin in a SE Alley, and the Pearl's New Italian Market
Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer, but it's nowhere near time yet to break out your sweaters. Portland fall stays warm and mild through ding-dang November, so we still have plenty of outdoor time to enjoy—in fact we're bracing for 90-degree days this weekend and SCORCHER 100-degree highs next week. I've been watching Portland's outdoor dining bloom for the past few months with… → Read More
Portland Institution Le Bistro Montage Is Closing Forever
Le Bistro Montage, the well-known and beloved late-night eatery famous for ooey-gooey mac 'n' cheese and wrapping their leftovers in tinfoil swans, announced via Facebook that they’re permanently closing and will not reopen. “We have been so honored to serve Portland for the past 27 years,” the statement read. Located beneath the Morrison Bridge in the Southeast industrial area of Portland, Le… → Read More
Lidia Yuknavitch Interview: Anti-Memoir, Carrie Underwood, and the Second Vagina in Her New Short Story Collection Verge
Lidia Yuknavitch is a creative force in Portland’s literary scene. Not only are her books award-winning best sellers, but they’re often groundbreaking, like her Oregon Book Award-winning anti-memoir The Chronology of Water, or her novel The Small Backs of Children in which she strove to break the novel’s form. To discuss her new short story collection Verge, Yuknavitch invited me to Corporeal… → Read More