Many thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings, hosannas, and salutations. I'm just now emerging from an unbelievably-busy ten days or so, but I wanted to take a moment to say thank you -- y'all are the greatest group of folks anyone could ever hope to be associated with. -Rick

I didn't like Avatar OR Hurt Locker, but I obviously default to rooting for Cameron. If he wins, he should demand that everyone kneel.

-less than 5 seconds ago from Rick Emerson's Twitter Feed

Outlook Portland is home to all manner of discussions...from the somber to the surreal; the medical to the musical.

And then, occasionally, there are episodes like this week's -- a dose of flat-out, nearly-uncontrolled weirdness and hilarity, courtesy of Mr. Tim Oakley and Mr. Sigfried Seeliger.

As exceptionally accomplished movie and television veterans, Tim and Sigfried have helped to turn myriad ideas into filmic reality. Their skill with art design, lighting, prop creation, and the million other things that fall between "Directed by" and "No animals were harmed in the making of this film" have given them a unique insight into the real, behind-the-scenes worlds of film and television.

They're also certifiable, and at about the two-minute mark, it becomes apparent that this will not be a typical installment of Outlook Portland. To say more would ruin the surprise...so don't miss it. (Part One airs this Sunday, with Part Two airing next week; there was simply too much entropy for one show.)

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




NEXT WEEK: Tim Oakley and Sigfried Seeliger, [Part 2 of 2]

IN TWO WEEKS: A double-dose of delectable goodness -- the folks from Secret Aardvark Trading Company and the founders of Holy Kakow (Organic Chocolate Syrups and Powders.) Prepare to drool.

Some time back, I had to do the nearly impossible: assemble a list of the "Ten Rock Albums You Should Own, but Probably Don't."

For any music nerd worth his copy of High Fidelity, this was simultaneously the best and worst assignment imaginable. When ransacking your brain and bookcase to compile such a list, where do you even start? What makes the cut, and, even more vexing, what do you leave off? That's the truly hard part...what do you leave off?

As it turns out, one of the things I omitted was The Caulfields' Whirligig, noting that:

"...despite my firm belief that it's perhaps the single most overlooked record of the 90s, it still rings a little too 'alternative pop' to quite make the cut. Fantastic stuff, though, and criminally overlooked."

Until now.

Trying to describe Whirligig has proven exceedingly difficult; my comparisons invariably feel insufficient, a hairsbreadth away from accuracy. Calling it "Elvis Costello meets Cheap Trick" isn't quite right, although vocalist/mastermind John Faye certainly owes his lyricism to the former and thick pop guitars to the latter. Neither is it accurate to call Whirligig "hard rock", even though the record boasts some of the loudest, production I'd ever heard at that point. (The huge guitar sound rivals that of Weezer, with whom The Caulfields share numerous traits.)

The term I often settle for is "power pop", best defined as "catchy pop songs with bubblegum melodies and goddamned loud guitars." Power pop was created by (or at least perfected by) bands like The Raspberries and Cheap Trick, and is practiced today by the likes of Jimmy Eat World and Tinted Windows.

Like so many other styles of bright, vibrant music, power pop never stood a chance in the grunge era; such bands were simply buried under a suffocating, grey avalanche of someone else's flannel. Longtime stalwarts like Cheap Trick were obliged to keep their head down and wait out the storm...even if they did it from the relative safety of SubPop records. Only the British -then incubating Oasis, Blur, and The Verve- proved immune to grunge's atonal hype machine.

Walking directly into this musical storm came The Caulfields: the right band...at the worst time imaginable.


Wearing their influences on their sleeves, shoes, pants, and tongues (I mean, they're called The Caulfields, for Christ's sake), John Faye and his sidemen made loud, catchy, aggressive, smart, wordy, heavy pop music...and were promptly ignored by everyone. (Everyone, that is, except for my friend Todd, who introduced me to their debut CD, Whirligig, an act for which I am still grateful.)

Living in Salt Lake City at the time (itself a suffocating avalanche of sameness), I was primed for anything that contained sharp-tongued, snot-nosed jabs at authority -- especially if it, you know...rocked. And this most certainly did.

Most importantly for me (well, second-most important, after the "rocking" part), was the fact that John Faye, the band's mouthpiece/mastermind, wrote lyrics that spoke to my outlook and worldview. Listening to Whirligig, I experienced what can be called "the shock of self-recognition" (much as I had a year earlier, when I first saw the movie Clerks.)

I'm no politician, I see through their game
It's my demographic they're trying to tame
Well they lump us together, and they give us a name
Rock the vote, you kids, and share in the blame
-from "All of My Young Life"

The ensuing years have moved me far past the "rock the vote" demographic -it's now Millennials being targeted- but his smirking, contemptuous scorn at such manipulation was incredibly satisfying.

Just as powerful were his thoughts on belief in God; in the song "Fragile", John Faye managed to say what I'd always struggled to: that he desperately wanted to believe in a God, but was thwarted by many things...among them, organized religion and his own logical nature:

God, I'd love to make you proud
But I still have my doubts
Perhaps it's all the ones who say they know
They sure put on show
And man, they say it loud
They're not my crowd
And if I can't believe in you
It doesn't mean I don't
I'm fragile, don't let me fall alone
-from "Fragile"

For me -and let me qualify this statement by saying that this is only my opinion, one formed by the myriad external forces that render everyone's outlook unique- The Caulfields' Whirligig is a perfect capsule of what it felt like to be a somewhat-brainy misfit in the 90s.

In short: were I tied down, beaten, and forced to name someone "the musical voice of my generation"...it would be John Faye, at least for the duration of this one album.

Further recordings found them dispirited and scattered -- I don't think they ever recovered from the commercial shrug that Whirligig received. (There may have been other factors at work, too; after breaking up The Caulfields, his next band was called "John Faye's Power Trip", which might reveal a few things.)

But this album...this one, nearly-flawless album...remains. And for anyone newly entering their own, personal age of suspicion, or for those of us who still carry those suspicions in adulthood, a more perfect companion would be hard to find.


"Devil's Diary" is the closest thing The Caulfields ever had to a hit single; it's a great introduction to a band who never quite got their due. (And, although the song's chorus does contain the phrase "bigger than Jesus", that's a coincidence; it has no relation to my stage/film project of the same name.)  Click here to listen to "Devil's Diary."

Whirligig appears to be out of print (in the States, at least), although used copies can be found here.

In a city such as Portland, art is everywhere; ubiquitous and omnipresent...meaning it can sometimes be taken for granted.

On this week's Outlook Portland, we're joined by two men who work to make sure that -in Portland, at least- art is never overlooked and that artists themselves are given every chance to share their visions with the world.

Chris Haberman is a painter, writer, and musician whose work reflects a rearranging of the world around us. He is also a Creative Director at Portland City Art.

Kaebel Hashitani is Curator at Sequential Art Gallery, and works as an evangelist for visual arts springing from the world of comic books, graphic novels, and related styles. He's also an accomplished artist in his own right, and has a much cooler name than I do.

A fascinating, inspiring look into Portland's support system for the arts -- on this week's Outlook Portland.



NEXT WEEK: Tim Oakley and Sigfried Seeliger, who will discuss the industries of film and television from a candid, behind-the-scenes perspective, as they talk about their art/lighting/production design work on films like Twilight and Indiana Jones and the Terminator: Salvation. [Part 1 of 2]

IN TWO WEEKS: Tim Oakley and Sigfried Seeliger. [Part 2 of 2]

It was my pleasure to join Sarah X. Dylan and Greg Nibler for part of Funemployment Radio's February 25th installment, covering such subjects as Showgirls II, Captain America, and the improbable surprise that greets an attack by a Killer Whale.

There's also Lost discussion, "Ball Talk", and all the hilarious whimsy you have come to expect from Sarah & Greg.


Funemployment Radio:

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Our pals at PDX.FM (@pdxfm) are profiled by @PeterAmesCarlin in today's Oregonian: http://bit.ly/dvmaAs.

-less than 5 seconds ago from Rick Emerson's Twitter Feed

Note: believe me when I say that this Sunday's episode of Outlook Portland is something quite powerful. Even knowing much of Dave Dahl's personal history, I was floored by the way he relates the twists and turns of his life. This is a must-see.



There are, of course, many abominations in this world: pestilence, war, corruption, social ills and strife, and perhaps the most horrifying of all...

White bread.

Not the figurative, Brady Bunch, Vampire Weekend kind, but the actual, literal, spongy kind. Bland, lifeless, pointless; hardly worthy of being called "bread" at all.

At the other end of the spectrum is something quite wonderful...something you may have seen, purchased, enjoyed, and raved about. Something called Dave's Killer Bread.

On this week's Outlook Portland, we'll hear the amazing story of the man behind the bread...a man whose life is filled with moments seemingly ripped from a dark, gritty, redemptive novel. A tale all the more astounding for being true.

Dave Dahl of Dave's Killer Bread pays a visit to Outlook Portland, Sunday at 6:30am, only on NW32 TV...the home of Gossip Girl, Melrose, and Rick Emerson.


NEXT WEEK: Kaebel Hashitani and Chris Haberman of Sequential Art Gallery and Portland City Art, respectively.

IN TWO WEEKS: Tim Oakley and Sigfried Seeliger, who will discuss the industries of film and television from a candid, behind-the-scenes perspective, as they talk about their art/lighting/production design work on films like Twilight and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.