Gossip Should Have No Friends

[June 20th, 2007] ISLAND OF AMAZONS! Holy nutballs, Batman. If all goes well, Portland will soon have what may be its first lesbian-owned comic shop —and a nerd-lovin' bar to boot. If funding goes as planned, Tammy Howard and her partner, Dani, will open Hero Worship , a comic and gift shop with an attached coffee bar in front and "Villains Lounge " in back, sometime in the next year. That's right: an evil comic-book character-themed gay bar . Talk about your niche market.

SWEET STREET SCENE Cacao co-owner Aubrey Lindley likes every flavor of NECCO wafers except chocolate, but not nearly as much as The New York Times loves his Portland chocolate shop . In its 1,387th story on PDX so far this year (OK, give or take 1,300), the Sunday Times gives a splendid write-up to Lindley and Jesse Manis ' sweet space, which features one of the most tip-top selections of local and international artisan chocolate this side of Houston Street. >> Cacao isn't the only buzz in the West End: Eames-loving design nerds citywide are geeking out to their minimal techno music on rumors that Portland's Skylab Design Group is doing schematic drawings on a tall condo tower at the corner of Southwest 12th Avenue and Washington Street . Mainly regarded as the highly talented interiors firm that drew up the Doug Fir and gave Lenny Kravitz a pimped-out Miami Beach pad, a 30-story Skylab tower would probably be the city's most iconic and would shimmer well and good next to the sleek 22-story high-rise that PDX airport designers the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership and Gerding Edlen are currently erecting right across the street.

ANOTHER BATHHOUSE BITES THE DUST Better truck yer horny homo asses across the river now, dudes—longtime gay bathhouse and Stark Street institution Club Portland has closed its doors, as of early Monday morning, for good. As first reported on WW contributor Stephen Marc Beaudoin's blog (fromeverycorner.blogspot.com), Club PDX has shuttered because of stiff competition from Northeast Portland's new sex palace, Steam, and also because developers gave owner Dick Lawson an offer to shut his doors that he couldn't refuse. On Monday morning, Club workers were seen dismantling the venue's outdoor lighting and signage on Southwest 12th, overseen by silver-maned Lawson. The R.I.P. banner above the Club's entrance read, "After 40 years in business we've turned off the steam and CLOSED—thanks for the memories."