February 08 2021 A Long Distance Affair
Tracy Francis of Boom Arts and local actor Barbie Wu are involved in A Long Distance Affair, a Zoom immersive play as part of a series that started before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through 10-minute plays, held Feb. 11-21, the audience learns about people from around the world; the latest version features 18 artists from Portland, Beirut (Lebanon), Lagos (Nigeria), Mumbai (India), Los Angeles and Mexico City.
It s produced by Juggerknot Theatre Company ( Miami Motel Stories ) and PopUp Theatrics.
Francis directs the Beirut play, about a dance class and connection, and the Portland play, which fittingly is a sci-fi piece about protest and unrest and a woman stuck in a time loop (in which the old version kills the young version).
Portland sends two lovestruck contestants to The Bachelor
Popular contestant on this season s reality TV series served on Happy Valley Youth Council
Pieper James, a 2015 graduate of Clackamas High School, has quickly proven herself as a popular contestant on this season s nationally syndicated reality TV series The Bachelor.
The other local contestant is Beaverton resident Abigail Heringer.
Now working on getting her master s degree in marketing from DePaul University, James immediately used the fact that she shares the same last name with this season s bachelor to her advantage, saying, My dad always wanted my sisters and I to keep our last name, which is James … so, I m very happy to be meeting you.
Road to research
Local author and Tribune editor, Dana Haynes, visits exotic locations for work on Sirocco
I m thrilled to announce that my new thriller, Sirocco (Blackstone Publishing, $16.99), hit the stands Tuesday, Jan. 19. It s my ninth published novel, and the second starring Michael Finnigan and Katalin Fiero Dahar, following their 2019 debut in St. Nicholas Salvage & Wrecking.
The editor of the Metro Life section has graciously offered me this space to tout my book.
Before I do, just a quick aside. When I was 20, I wanted to be either a newspaper journalist or a novelist. Today, I m both, making me, by far, the luckiest guy I ve ever met. My work at the Portland Tribune and the Pamplin Media Group has been doubly rewarding this past year, as everyone from the publishers to the ad reps, from circulation to the production crew, came together to provide excellent journalism in the face of a pandemic, a recession, weeks and months of emotional protests about s
January 15 2021
UPDATE: Two of the biggest celebrations of the civil rights icon will be online this year
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, Jan.18, and two of Oregon s biggest tributes to the civil rights leader will be streamed online this year.
The first will be the Skanner Foundation s 35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, which will begin at 9 a.m. on the Skanner s YouTube channel here.
The keynote speaker with be Gen. Arthur T. Dean of the Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative, who will address health and the African American community. Other speakers include U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
Bits & Pieces
Voices Virtual Lectures
The 28th season of the Voices Lecture Series is going virtual and four lectures are scheduled:
• Lisa Genova, Wednesday, Feb. 3; she s a neuroscientist and author with a new book, Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting.
• Zainab Salbi, Wednesday, March 3; she s an Iraqi-American humanitarian, author and TV host and founder of Women for Women International.
• Liz Forkin Bohannon, Wednesday, April 7; she s founder of Sseko Designs, a footwear and accessory brand that employs young women seeking to finance their higher education.
• Cady Coleman, Wednesday, April 28; she s a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions and a six-month expedition on the International Space Station as lead robotics and science officer.