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In this Discussion
- 1234 November 2012
- Clever_girl November 2012
- Dr_William_Hayward November 2012
- freddy November 2012
- kdawg November 2012
- Leland November 2012
- lolo November 2012
- Loose_Thread November 2012
- Marcus November 2012
- Matthew November 2012
- MirandaJuly November 2012
- Schlabe November 2012
- the_owls November 2012
- UncleBoatShoes2011 November 2012
- YoursTruly November 2012
Comments
I've heard of these for a while, but in the last few days this brand has been more entangled in my thoughts.
I visited the Eugene branch of this little chain Friday night after some time browsing about them. The place reminded me of a sort of mini-McMenamin's Kennedy School.
My personal response is a mixture of attractions and aversions.
It feels Nineties-y to me in the way that Mad Men is sixties-ish.
Lots of representational art. Steve Prefontaine and Ken Kesey portraits/memorials. Pretty amusing velvet painting of Conan O'Brian as a sad clown.
I bought a box of fairly elaborate donuts for my family.
Pros: Seems like somebody is buying local art and providing service jobs for non-conformists. I'm attracted to local heroes. Donuts are tasty.
Cons: The retro character makes the future seem dead, like it will all just be more of the same. The donuts were just OK.
Frankly, it seemed like the opposite of the UHX-vibe, a kind of Dionysus to UrHo's Apollo. Maybe there are parallels to be drawn to generalizations about Gen X v. Millennials?
I'm curious if people here have strong opinions one way or the other about this brand.
"Asshole" can mean a lot of things. I get that the tone and perception of the brand is greatly filtered through its attachment to a particular individual.
By "asshole," I mean that he always needs to be the center of attention, and tries to get it in very annoying ways. For example, I have seen him continuously interrupt a panel discussion at which he was an audience member. Just blurting out random things whenever he felt like it. He acts like a child.
Frogtor is a defender of the guy, because he's very old-school Portland and I think Frogtor enjoys the "annoying the new yuppies" effect, but I think the guy is just super immature.
for tourists! novelty donuts
can't believe Frogtor would defend something that to me seems Ultimate New Portlandia Theme Park Vibe. Voodoo donuts is like what my sister-in-law would know about Portland. She'd be excited to get the pink box if you brought it home to her from a trip. Souvenir shoppe donuts
also I ate a donut from there years ago and couldn't believe how bland and boring it was. Grubby ol' Heavenly Donuts on Lombard makes literally 1,000 percent better donuts. Gimme break, hipster novelty bacon donut! There I said it
People from out of town are CRAZY about this place, though! Pre-Portlandia. It's been on lots of cooking and travel shows, and has buzz the way cupcake shops in NYC had buzz. Wacky sweet treat!
I'm ok with it's existence 'cause they employ punkx.
There's a website for people looking to buy used minidonut making machines: minidonuts.com. Dreamy!
I feel like Krispy Kreme hurt their brand when they took the company public and opened hundreds of shops in the 90's.**
*a Belshaw Donut Robot Mark II
** Correction: Apr 14, 2000.
Belshaw "Snackmaster" Automatic Tortilla Chip Fryer
I like the one huge fritter they have called the Memphis Mafia.
Remember that one donut guy behind the coffee shop (Crazy Frog or whatever) on Sundays. That was great donut.
Now it's more a regional food tourist attraction than a donut shop. That is not bad - it just isn't for *us* anymore.
Further research last night put me in the position to observe an impressive and ridiculous line for donuts at the shop downtown. Fifty people out waiting a half hour in the rain for donuts at 10pm on a Sunday is really quite phenomenal.
The Sandy Blvd location was more accessible. Probably 30 patrons, half of them seated, passing part of the evening in animated conversation. Perfectly workable, boozeless, all-ages situation. Standard Boomer Country, Soul and Classic Punk 45s on the jukebox punctuated by one of the first Dub Narcotic platters "Fuck, Shit, Up" and a Neil Hamburger. The juke wasn't getting any attention as the house sound was bumping current squigglepop.
Seemed like a righteous loose-limbed joint. Would have caught some of my time and dollars when I was a kid.
I hadn't realized these establishments were booze free until I visited. Also quite impressive. The closest analogous vibe producers I can think of in Seattle are selling alcohol along with their fat-laden foods. Actually, there's a small gourmet ice cream chain with a similar vibe of family-style punkish working-class pleasures: Full TIlt.* Seattle's little baked-goods chains, the afore-mentioned Top Pot doughnuts and for example, Cupcake Royale, have a much more groomed and "business casual" tone. I find that at Stumptown too.
*They do offer beer in bottles but no one would go there to drink.
In the end it's easier to cede ground to the tourists than bothering to be irritated. More power to his quixotic vision. It will last as long as people want donuts and think of Portland as "cool".
I got choked up on a laughing fit while hiking once this summer just thinking about him pleading with the permit office.
"How can you be so, like, narrow-minded, man? Do you know how much this place is gonna RULE???"
Probably many on UH are cultural explorers, uncovering the new. Then some of those things break out and you have to declare success and move onto the next new.
There are many other design subcultures, (like the Southern outsider/visionary art - good call LT). I haven't looked much at Voodoo, though if I was him, I would do real African/New Orleans voodoo.
We probably read the same article about the demise of the P Palace, Marcus. (Seems fitting that he was undone for lack of a *ermit.)
Looked like there was a failure to perform due diligence about the seismic upgrades that would be required to bring up the occupancy of the space. Then, when the city came in with their requirements, there was a dispute about whether the building owner, not the tenant, was responsible for those improvements under the terms of the lease.
His inspired-amatuer attitude is kind of winning me over as I get to know more. Haven't hit a dark side yet.
I think you should be Starbucks Guy next Halloween.
And I know for a fact that Mike didn't like it.
I'm just trying to see the human side
Mike might not like this but "Starbucks Guy" (maybe Mike 5 years ago wearing a tie) was a continued aspect of the fun/funky/playful/velvety culture of the 90s. Mike took the funkiness all the way to the side that the funky 90s people couldn't recognize his playful approach (business cosplay).
This is not to say that I don't think Mike is sincere in his aesthetic. He is, but on some level its not that far off from what made the subculture of the 90s look like Voodoo Donuts.
So, when Tres chose to attack someone in his store for his appearance he was not only being judgmental and rude and turning off a customer and someone who had been a supporter of his business he was attacking someone who was doing the same thing he was but he was too myopic to realize.
@UBS11 Your explication of @Mikey's personal brand is like reading a description of a Moebius strip. So much This Way that it comes out That Way.
(Mike Fan. As if that wasn't obvious.)
"stunt donuts"
"employed punkx"
"Memphis Mafia"
"(The baby is your hate)"
"the false artifice of 'Starbucks Guy.'"
THIS THREAD HAS SOME PRETTY GOOD LINES, Y'ALL
Fuck it though. Sesame Donuts all the way.