Greil Marcus, the legendary music writer and cultural thinker (with whom Chris Gray had an interesting e-mail correspondence) showed up in Portland Monday to give the Bernard A. Osher annual lecture for the Portland Museum of Art. He based his talk on the museum's show "Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography," which is up through March 22. The 250+ images in the show are selected from a private collection of more than 500 photos of rock stars - most of which were taken behind the scenes, rather than on stage.

But from his jumping-off point of the images in the show, Marcus quickly broadened his scope to images that were not included in the show, as evidence partly of what the collector himself choosing to leave out, but also to demonstrate a larger point about the cultural position of photography of musicians. What Marcus himself left out of his talk was the explicit statement that a great deal of today's photography of musicians is about stolen moments - or bizarre documentation of largely meaningless moments (like Britney's flash or Katie Holmes's various hairstyles).

Rather, by showing and discussing images whose photographers and subjects imbued the moment with lasting power, Marcus's talk was both a celebration of the cultivated permanence of the rock-and-roll era and a lament for its passing.

-- Jeff Inglis

LISTEN: Greil Marcus at Portland Museum of Art (mp3)

Photos are after the jump.

As Obama continues his pattern of reversing at least one atrocious Bush policy per day, I'm reminded of those old movies where the scandal is finally revealed, the unjustly accused finally freed, or the ogre is brought to his knees, and the filmmaker marked the transition with swirling string music, shots of daily newspaper presses in overdrive, bundles of Extra Editions being tossed onto dawn-lit sidewalks out of the backs of delivery trucks, and (ultimately, always) a spinning page one that freezes so the audience can read the revelatory headline.

In an effort to catch up to the youngsters of the post-modern world, politicians are working to spruce up their 'hip' factor by mixing in some old-school politics with high-tech campaigning. City councilor, Michael Flaherty seems to be running with this idea in his YouTube announcement, confirming his run for mayor that was released Sunday.

And Bleeding Gums Murphy is rolling in his grave.

Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson (and Ralph Wiggum and Nelson Muntz) is a longtime Scientologist. She’s reported to have given much dinero to the controversial organization.

Just as Bart used to do to hapless Moe Szyslak, Cartwright recently picked up the phone and made a call — using her famous character’s voice to promote an LA Scientology confab.

Whether your Beacon Hill representative is a Budweiser-shaped high school jock leftover with a bald spot bigger than his brain, or a do-good female activist with ornate lapel pins for every day of the month, chances are he or she misrepresented your voice this afternoon, when 137 out of 160 legislators voted to anoint Winthrop Representative Robert DeLeo as the new Speaker of the Massachusetts House.

A couple weeks ago, I heard tell of www.flightlipdub.com, which was basically a contest to see who could best lip-synch the Flight of the Conchords song “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros.” I decided to do it because (a) I have recently aquired a retardedly-expensive video-camera and some editing software, (b) I needed an excuse to learn how to better use them, and (c) I have a friend with a chicken suit.

When George Bush was elected president in 2000, thinking folks were angry that so-called everyday Americans voted Republican because, allegedly, they wanted to chug beers with him. While alcoholics are always more fun, some thought that was a poor reason to choose a leader.

But make no mistake. When selecting your Beacon Hill representative there’s no more important quality than a willingness to kiss ass and shake hands.

Met him online. Blogged our divorce. - Kristy Sammis

While playing wingman, found my wife. - Scott Northrop

Foung my ex-husband on Craigslist. Twice. - Yin Shin

Will always follow you. On Twitter. - Mircea Lungu

Cuddling in bed, she said good-bye. - Christopher Warren

Job requires me to contemplate cunnilingus.

Here's what we are reading around the office:

Pundits of all stripes have been preparing us not to expect overnight miracles from the Obama administration. Barack himself quite sensibly cautioned that the mess his predecessor got us into isn't going be tidied up by the weekend.
What immediate progress we've enjoyed in these first few days of the new order has been gratifying indeed: concrete plans to dismantle our illegal detention facility in Guantanamo; a White House salary freeze; a curtailment of lobbying clout; unshackling the Freedom of Information Act; serious talk of getting us out of the pointless war in Iraq.

One groggy morning I was reading the Huffington Post when I came across a story about a guy, a doctor, who inexplicably grew blisters on his hands, had his toe and fingernails grow incredibly loose and fall off, and rubbed his skin clear off his heel simply by putting on a new shoe. If my four shots of espresso didn't wake up, that sure did!

It's been kind of a good month for Barack Obama posterizer-in-chief Shephard Fairey. His recent commissions have included both the Leader of the Free World and Google (the MLK-day logo rebrand was his), he was just on the Colbert Report, had the cover of Esquire, and his iconic Obama portrait was unveiled at the Smithsonian

Obama has officially kicked that fuckup Bush out of the Oval office, and in support, Obamanites are immortalizing the moment on their kicks. Here's just a few of the latest kicks that would be sure to keep you "doin' what you gotta do, flyer than the rest of 'em":

The Dunks are cool, but how appropriate are Obama Air Force Ones?